Complementary and Alternative Medicines for the Treatment of Hepatitis C: Perspectives of Users and CAM Practitioners

Table 1

Demography and characteristics of respondents.

		Frequency	Percent
Patients (n = 284)
Age (years)	18–40	49	17.3
	41–60	86	30.3
	>60	149	52.5
Weight	40–60 kg	82	28.9
	61–80 kg	148	52.1
	81–100 kg	54	19.0
Gender	Female	173	60.9
	Male	111	39.1
Socioeconomic status (Tx. affording source)	Self	45	15.8
	Spouse	69	24.3
	Father/guardian	84	29.6
	Donations/Zakat/SS	16	5.7
	Hospital/Govt.	70	24.6
Perceived mode of acquiring infection	Blood transfusion	63	22.2
	Razor cuts/abrasions	89	31.3
	IVDU	14	4.9
	Dermal contact	25	8.8
	Unsterilized syringes	3	1.1
	Not known	90	31.7
Final diagnosis	Hepatitis C	156	54.9
	HCV + DM	61	21.5
	HCV + HTN	40	14.1
	HCV + CKD	27	9.5
Under CAM Tx since	1–3 months	170	59.9
	4–6 months	114	40.1
Allopathic Tx used	1-2 months	103	36.3
	3-4 months	76	26.7
	5-6 months	105	37.0
CAM practitioners (n = 133)
Speciality	Herbal	48	36.1
	Homeopathic	45	33.8
	Unani	34	25.6
	Spiritual healer	6	4.5
Formal education	Secondary or below	46	34.6
	Higher secondary	49	36.8
	Graduation or above	38	28.6
Experience	1–5 years	43	32.3
	6–10 years	15	11.3
	11–15 years	34	25.6
	16–20 years	41	30.8
Modal number of patients treated	21–50	48	36.1
	51–100	31	23.3
	101–200	30	22.6
	201–300	7	5.3
	501–1000	15	11.3
	Greater than 1000	2	1.5

Abbreviations: Tx = treatment, SS = social security, Govt = government, IVDU = intravenous drug user, HCV = hepatitis C, DM = diabetes mellitus, HTN = hypertension, and CKD = chronic kidney disease. A value less than 0.05 was considered significant.