Patterns of traditional medicine use among people with hypertension in Sintgaing township, Mandalay region, Myanmar

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was carried out in Sintgaing township, Mandalay region, Myanmar to study the patterns of traditional medicine (TM) use among the people with hypertension in this area. The study used purposive sampling method to select 216 hypertensive patients, who were diagnosed by health care professionals and aged above 18 years. Data were collected by face to face interview questionnaires during April, 2020. The data were analyzed by descriptive analysis and Chi-square and Fisher's exact test were used to examine the association between the utilization of traditional medicine and study variables. The results of the study reveal that the proportion of using traditional medicine for hypertension among hypertensive patients in the past twelve months was 36.1 % and it was associated with age and health personnel at p-value < 0.05. They mostly obtained TM from the traditional medicine practitioner or traditional medicine clinics and followed by traditional medicine hospital and they used TM to relieve signs and symptoms of their diseases. IMPLICATION OF THE THEMATIC PAPER The finding of this study suggest that hypertensive patients should use drugs with the recommendations of the professionals and should not use mixing with other drugs or supplements. If the patients want to use mixing traditional medicine with western medicine, they should discuss with their medical doctors. The authorized person should educate to the community people about the information of traditional medicine adequately throughout the country and they should restrict the nonrecognized person and the drugs by law.