Utilization of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Hypertensive Patients in Mongolia

Abstract

Background: There is a wide use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) as a self-care and a raising issue of the safety and efficacy of it in the disease management outcome including hypertension. However no study has done about the use of CAM among hypertensive patients in Mongolia. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and factors associated with CAM use. Methods: Cross-sectional design with a semi-structured questionnaire which were developed based on the previous studies was used to carry out this study. Sample size was 323 hypertensive patients at the Third State Central Hospital of Mongolia. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The prevalence of CAM use among hypertensive patients was 38.3% (123) with highest percentage (171/53.3%) of manipulative and body-based practices including cupping (70/21.8%) and massage (60/18.7%) followed by herbal medicine (55/17.1%). Conclusion: CAM use is common among Mongolian hypertensive patients along with conventional medicine. Clinicians and policy makers need to consider this fact in order to implement proper intervention in hypertension management and initiate policies in tackling hypertension.