Prevalence, determinants and outcomes of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use for hypertension among low-income households in Malaysia and the Philippines

• Published in: BMC complementary and alternative medicine 2022-09, Vol.22 (1), p.252-252, Article 252
• Main Authors: Palileo-Villanueva, Lia M, Palafox, Benjamin, Amit, Arianna Maever L, Pepito, Veincent Christian F, Ab-Majid, Fadhlina, Ariffin, Farnaza, Balabanova, Dina, Isa, Mohamad-Rodi, Mat-Nasir, Nafiza, My, Mazapuspavina, Renedo, Alicia, Seguin, Maureen L, Yusoff, Khalid, Dans, Antonio L, Mckee, Martin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Alternative medicine; Blood pressure; Communicable diseases; Complementary Therapies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drugs; Economic analysis; Economic development; Expenditures; Health aspects; Health care; Health care industry; Health facilities; Health insurance; Herbal medicine; Households; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - epidemiology; Hypertension - therapy; Impact analysis; Income; Low income areas; Low income groups; Malaysia - epidemiology; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine, Botanic; Medicine, Experimental; Medicine, Herbal; Non-communicable disease control, Malaysia; Patient compliance; Patient-centered care; Patients; Personal income; Philippines; Philippines - epidemiology; Population; Population studies; Prevalence; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Primary care; Public sector; Rural areas; Socioeconomics; Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine; Urban areas
• ISSN: 2662-7671; 2662-7671; 1472-6882
• DOI: 10.1186/s12906-022-03730-x

Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) is used to treat a broad range of conditions. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), TCAM use is particularly common among those with low socio-economic status. To better understand the patterns and impact of TCAM use on the management of non-communicable diseases in these populations, this study examines the prevalence and characteristics of TCAM use for hypertension, its determinants, and its association with hypertension management outcomes and wellbeing among low-income adults in two Southeast Asian countries at different levels of economic and health system development, Malaysia and the Philippines. We analysed cross-sectional data from 946 randomly selected adults diagnosed with hypertension from low-income rural and urban communities in Malaysia (n = 495) and the Philippines (n = 451). We compared the prevalence, characteristics and household expenditure on TCAM use between countries and used multi-level, mixed-effects regression to estimate associations between TCAM use and its determinants, and five hypertension management outcomes and wellbeing. The prevalence of TCAM use to manage hypertension was higher in the Philippines than in Malaysia (18.8% vs 8.8%, p