Use of Traditional and Complementary Medicine as Self-Care Strategies in Community Health Centers

Chung, Vincent C.H.; Wang, Haoxiang; Wong, M.W.T.; Wei, Xiaolin; Wang, Jiaji; Liu, Siya; Ho, Robin S.T.; Yu, Eden S. H.; Griffiths, Siân

doi:10.1097/md.0000000000003761

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…This finding can be explained by the fact that higher SES individuals can afford to buy medicinal herbs due to their higher ability to pay. This observation is consistent with previous studies, in which affordability is one of the most important factors for MH usage [ 17 – 19 , 31 , 32 ]. A study on the use of herbal medicine in Taiwan indicated that CHM use among pregnant women with a higher level of education and larger income had greater rates of CHM usage [ 33 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Exploring socioeconomic inequalities in the use of medicinal herbs among Iranian households: evidence from a national cross-sectional survey

Rezaei

Ahmadi

Mohamadi-Bolbanabad

et al. 2020

BMC Complement Med Ther

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Background Association between socioeconomic status and medicinal herbs (MH) are rarely documented in Iran. Our goal was to measure and decompose socioeconomic inequalities in MH use among Iranian households. Methods The data used in this cross-sectional study were extracted from the 2018 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) (N = 38,859). Data on MH use, age, gender, and education status of the head of household; a constructed wealth index of household (as a proxy for household’s socioeconomic status); and place of residence (urban or rural) were obtained from the survey. Publicly available province-level data on Human Development Index (HDI) were obtained from the Institute for Management Research at Radbound University. We used the concentration curve and the normalized concentration index (Cn) to measure the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in MH among Iranian households. The Cn was decomposed to identify the main determinants of socioeconomic inequalities in MH in Iran. Results The overall prevalence of MH use among Iranian households was 4.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.5 to 4.9%) in the last month before data collection. The Cn for MH use for the whole of samples was 0.1519; 95% CI = 0.1254 to 0.1784; suggesting a higher concentration of MH use among the households with high socioeconomic level. The decomposition analysis indicated that the main contributing factors to the concentration of MH use were the economic status of households, development status of the province, and education level of the household head. Conclusions This study demonstrated that MH use is more concentrated among socioeconomically advantaged households in Iran and its provinces. This finding might contrast with the widespread belief that wealthy and socioeconomically advantaged populations, compared to low SES groups, tend to seek disproportionately more modern medical treatments and medications than MH. Understanding the factors affecting MH use, socioeconomic inequality in use of MH and its determinants provide an opportunity for health policymakers to design effective evidence-based interventions among providers and consumers of MH.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Exploring socioeconomic inequalities in the use of medicinal herbs among Iranian households: evidence from a national cross-sectional survey

Rezaei

Ahmadi

Mohamadi-Bolbanabad

et al. 2020

BMC Complement Med Ther

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“…However, as we have mentioned, inappropriate use of supplements may lead to adverse outcomes ( 44 ). In addition, with increasing health literacy, respondents expressed uncertainty about the usefulness of these supplements ( 45 ). Therefore, how do we provide scientifically based health guidance to older people that addresses their needs in the future?…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Nutritional Supplement Use Among Older Chinese Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in China

Dong

Sun

Bai

2022

Front. Public Health

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ObjectiveThis study identified the prevalence of nutritional supplement (NS) use among older Chinese adults and explored the factors associated with NS use in this population.MethodsWe used data from 11,089 Chinese men and women aged ≥ 65 years from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. The chi-square test was used to examine the differences in demographics, health status and lifestyles at different levels. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between NS use and demographic and lifestyle characteristics.ResultsTwelve percent of Chinese adults aged 65 years and above used NS. In terms of the type of supplement used, the most commonly used was calcium (8.49%), followed by protein (2.73%) and multivitamins (2.40%). In terms of demographic characteristics, women, older people, urban residents with other marital status, higher educational level, better living conditions and better lifestyle habits showed a greater use of some kinds of NS to varying degrees. Factors associated with the use of any NS included female gender [OR = 1.71, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI): 1.09–1.44], age 85–94 (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.08–1.58), urban household registration (hukou) (OR = 1.25, 95% CI:1.46–2.00), higher education (primary school and middle school: OR = 1.32, 95% CI:1.14–1.52; high school and above: OR = 1.56, 95% CI:1.25–1.94), average and poor living standard (average: OR = 0.64, 95% CI:0.56–0.73; poor: OR = 0.42, 95% CI:0.32–0.55), poor health status (OR = 1.36, 95% CI:1.13–1.63), former smoking (OR = 1.33, 95% CI:1.11–1.60), and having exercise habits (former exercise: OR = 2.24, 95% CI:1.83–2.74; current exercise: OR = 2.28, 95% CI:2.00–2.61). Women reported taking 2–3 kinds of NSs, and more than 50% of NS users reported taking supplements often.ConclusionThis study provides information on the current prevalence of NS use among older Chinese adults, and it clarifies the association of NS use with demographic, lifestyle and other factors. Providing scientifically based health guidance on NS use for older people is crucial to promoting their health.

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“…Variables of health habits include (1) self-care in TCM (yes or no) and (2) recent alcohol consumption (yes or no). Self-care in TCM includes massaging, emotional therapy, dietary supplement usage, traditional sports therapy and other supplementary approaches to remain healthy in daily life as the philosophy of TCM suggests [28]. Recent alcohol consumption refers to drinking alcohol at least once a week in the previous 6 months and more.…”

Section: Materials and Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the fewer side effects of TCM, the higher satisfaction with the doctors' communication skill [47,48], and the expectation of removing the root of disease and health promotion, some of the Chinese people, especially the elderly, prefer to seek treatment in TCM sectors [22] or resort to some folk remedies [49] through word of mouths. Elders with the habits of self-care in TCM have higher affinities to TCM [28], and these elders tend to seek medical help in TCM sectors, in which they may be confronted with less barrier during the process of seeing doctors compared with the western medicine sectors [47,48], especially for empty-nest elders without support from younger family caregivers [15]. This finding may explain the lower rate of self-treatment among elders with higher affinities for TCM in this empty-nest subgroup.…”

Section: Subgroups Of Empty-nest and Non-empty-nest Eldersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring factors associated with self-treatment among different elder subgroups in rural China: a cross-sectional study

Xu¹,

Zhong²,

Pan³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background Self-treatment is a common and widespread behaviour, of which the risks are multiplied in old age. However, the determinants of self-treatment among elders in the current rural China remain unclear. This study aims to explore the determinants of self-treatment among elders in rural China, focusing on context-specific and multi-dimensional factors. Methods Based on a multi-stage stratified random sampling method, a cross-sectional household survey was conducted among 30 villages in Sinan County, Guizhou Province in western China. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire on the healthcare needs of residents. The analysis was restricted to elders who reported illness within the last 2 weeks, and the final sample size was 338 (individuals). Pearson’s chi-squared test and binary logistic regression analysis were performed among the whole sample group and four subgroups. Results Approximately 25.94% of the 1303 elders reported illness within the last 2 weeks, of whom 34.4% indicated self-treatment. The variables independently associated with a greater probability of self-treatment in the whole sample group were better health status, no recent alcohol consumption and no utilisation of family practice services; the same predictors were found in the subgroup of elders with chronic diseases. No significant predictors were found in the subgroup of elders without chronic diseases. Empty-nest elders with higher affinity to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and drinking alcohol recently were less likely to self-treat. Non-empty-nest elders who were no less than 75 years old and at better health status were more likely to self-treat. Conclusion Better health status, no recent alcohol consumption and no utilisation of family practice are associated with self-treatment among rural elders. Advanced age and self-care habits in TCM also play roles in some subgroups. Deeper understanding of the self-treatment behaviour among rural elders may provide insights for developing improvement strategies of the family practice system in China.

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Use of Traditional and Complementary Medicine as Self-Care Strategies in Community Health Centers

Abstract: Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

Cited by 14 publications

References 49 publications

Exploring socioeconomic inequalities in the use of medicinal herbs among Iranian households: evidence from a national cross-sectional survey

Exploring socioeconomic inequalities in the use of medicinal herbs among Iranian households: evidence from a national cross-sectional survey

Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Nutritional Supplement Use Among Older Chinese Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in China

Exploring factors associated with self-treatment among different elder subgroups in rural China: a cross-sectional study

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