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Table 1 Characteristics of participants and factors associated with utilisation of Mwanamphepo during pregnancy (Mixed-effects model, adjusted for clustering)

From: Associations between the use of herbal medicines and adverse pregnancy outcomes in rural Malawi: a secondary analysis of randomised controlled trial data

Characteristics

Total

No herbal remedies utilised

Utilised herbal remedies

COR (95% CI)

p-value

aAOR (95% CI)

p-value

n

% or m(SD)

n

% or m(SD)

n

% or m(SD)

 

8219

100%

6106

74.3%

2113

25.7%

  

Age (years)

7834

26.9 (6.7)

5823

27.3 (6.7)

2011

25.8 (6.7)

0.96 (0.95–0.97) < 0.001

0.96 (0.95–0.98) < 0.001

Highest level of education

 None (Ref.)

2440

29.7%

1828

30.0%

611

28.9%

  

 Primary

5313

64.7%

3899

63.9%

1414

67.0%

1.06 (0.92–1.23) 0.439

0.95 (0.80–1.14) 0.601

 Secondary or higher

457

5.6%

370

6.1%

87

4.1%

0.68(0.50–0.93) 0.018

0.68 (0.47–0.99) 0.042

Marital status

 Currently married (Ref)

6858

83.5%

5205

85.3%

1653

78.3%

  

 Never married

1012

12.3%

646

10.6%

366

17.3%

1.80 (1.49–2.18) < 0.001

1.30 (0.93–1.82) 0.118

 Formerly marriedb

343

4.2%

250

4.1%

93

4.4%

1.21 (0.82–1.53) 0.474

1.10 (0.76–1.58) 0.615

Main occupation

 Farming (Ref)

6993

85.2%

5250

86.1%

1743

82.6%

  

 Salaried employee

128

1.6%

100

1.6%

28

1.3%

0.68 (0.40–1.15) 0.150

0.98 (0.53–1.81) 0.942

 Self employed

210

2.5%

178

2.9%

32

1.5%

0.57 (0.36–0.90) 0.016

0.75 (0.45–1.26) 0.281

 Student/no work

878

10.7%

570

9.4%

308

14.6%

1.73 (1.42–2.11) < 0.001

1.25 (0.88–1.77) 0.216

Wealth tertiles

 Lowest (Ref)

2753

34.1%

1967

32.6%

786

38.3%

  

 Middle

2655

32.8%

1962

32.5%

693

33.7%

0.91 (0.77–1.06) 0.216

0.97 (0.81–1.16) 0.759

 Highest

2673

33.1%

2099

34.8%

574

28.0%

0.68 (0.57–0.80) < 0.001

0.83 (0.69–0.99) 0.053

Religion

 Christian (Ref)

7965

97.0%

5920

97.1%

2045

96.9%

  

 Muslim and others

244

3.0%

179

2.9%

65

3.1%

0.78 (0.54–1.13) 0.185

1.07 (0.69–1.66) 0.768

Ethnicity

 Chewa (Ref)

7886

96.1%

5867

96.2%

2019

95.7%

  

 Ngoni

199

2.4%

135

2.2%

64

3.0%

1.11 (0.74–1.65) 0.615

0.98 (0.62–1.55) 0.925

 Others

125

1.5%

97

1.6%

20

1.3%

0.82 (0.48–1.41) 0.476

0.76 (0.39–1.45) 0.403

Attended antenatal clinic (ANC)

 No (Ref)

337

4.1

269

4.4%

68

3.2%

  

 Yes

7869

95.9

5826

95.6%

2043

96.7%

0.83 (0.59–1.17) 0.286

1.50 (0.35–6.35) 0.582

 Gestational age (month) at first ANC

7572

5.8 (1.3)

5617

5.8 (1.3)

1995

5.7 (1.2)

0.92 (0.92–1.03) 0.305

0.29 (0.90–1.03) 0.276

Unsuccessful last pregnancy

 No (Ref)

6172

95.1%

4731

95.5%

1441

93.9%

  

 Yes

319

4.9%

225

4.5%

94

6.1%

1.33 (1.13–1.54) 0.002

1.32 (1.12–1.54) 0.001

At least four ANC visits

 No (Ref)

4982

65.8%

3609

66.1%

1274

65.2%

  

 Yes

2586

34.2%

1905

33.9%

689

34.8%

0.97 (0.84–1.12) 0.687

0.97 (0.81–1.16) 0.731

Place of delivery

 Hospital/health facility (Ref)

3662

46.2%

3004

51.1%

658

32.3%

  

 Traditional birth attendants

2191

27.7%

1414

24.0%

777

38.1%

3.71 (3.07–4.47) < 0.001

3.65 (2.94–4.54) < 0.001

 Home/on the way to facility

2068

26.1%

1465

24.9%

603

29.6%

2.13 (1.79–2.59) < 0.001

2.31 (1.87–2.83) < 0.001

Received postnatal care

 No (Ref)

4144

58.4%

3024

57.9%

1120

59.7%

  

 Yes

2953

41.6%

2198

42.9%

755

40.3%

0.87 (0.75–1.01) 0.064

1.18 (1.00–1.39) 0.059

  1. COR Crude odds ratio, AOR Adjusted odds ratio, SD Standard deviation, M mean, CI confidence interval
  2. aAdjusted for attendance of antenatal clinic, attendance of postnatal clinic, place of delivery, number of antenatal visits, timing of the first antenatal visit (gestational age), age, marital status, tribe, occupation, wealth tertiles and religion
  3. bIncludes widowed, divorced and separated