Table 3 Prevalence and characteristics of herbal medicine use in the study population, Gondar, Ethiopia (N = 387)
Variables | Frequency (%) |
|---|---|
Herbal medicine use since diagnosis | |
 No | 147 (38) |
 Yes | 240 (62) |
Reasons for herbal medicine use (n = 240) (more than one option is possible) | |
 Family, tradition or culture | 74 (30.8) |
 Belief in advantages of herbal medicine | 97 (40.4) |
 Herbal medicine is accessible and available | 66 (27.5) |
 Treatment of diabetes and other medical problems | 23 (9.6) |
 Dissatisfaction with conventional therapy | 102 (42.5) |
 Others | 15 (6.2) |
Reasons for not using herbal medicine among non-users (n = 147) (more than one option is possible) | |
 Additional burden | 62 (42.2) |
 Afraid of side effect | 105 (74.4) |
 The doctor didn’t prescribe herbal medicine | 81 (55.1) |
 Lack of belief in the benefits of herbal medicine | 89 (60.5) |
Discuss with HCPs about herbal medicine use (n = 239) | |
 No | 208 (86.6) |
 Yes | 31 (12.9) |
Reason for not discussing with HCPs (n = 240) | |
 Anticipating negative response about herbal medicine use | 158 (65.8) |
 Insufficient information of herbal medicine | 20 (8.4) |
 It is not important for doctor to know about my herbal medicine use | 62 (25.8) |
Satisfaction with herbal medicine use (n = 240) | |
 Satisfied | 103 (42.9) |
 Average | 89 (37.1) |
 Dissatisfied | 48 (20) |