Table 2.

Showing participants’ quotes.

Factors		Representative quotes	Participant (age)	Proposed strategies to address
Perceived adverse effects		“I was very worried that maybe my bladder’s heart is bleeding.”	Fred (43)	-Adequate patient counselling through the course of treatment especially where multiple drugs are being used.
		“that colour irritates me so much. I have to go in hiding when I am urinating.”	Kenneth (29)
		I would hold it like this and vomit….if I swallow it at once, however much I try to force it in, it comes back.”	Jane (45)
		“I become dizzy when I take before meals.”	Fred (43)
		“Loss of stamina started after I begun TB treatment…joints shivering and no energy to stand.”	Moses (37)
		“I would feel like putting my feet in water after swallowing medication.”	Peter (45)
		“I got joint pains immediately that when I went to the bathroom to take a shower, I could not squat. I could only bend…”	Hillary (54)
		They reddened, pained and my vision was unclear	Leonard (25)
		“I urinate here and there and not aim like other men.”	John (45)
		“With TB drugs, I had nightmares, dreaming about beasts.”	Diana (32)
		“the challenge is that we are advised to take drugs before eating… Perhaps if there is any way for changing this…It would be better.”	John (45)
		“It started at week 5…with the legs and I thought it was witchcraft but because am a born-again Christian… I started praying and fasting.”	Ross (33)
Concurrent use of other medication	Reasons for	“So at last I ruled myself that I will never go to the clinic to buy it because it was giving me another problem.”	Sarah (30)	-In case of over-the-counter medication, clinicians need to educate patients about the possibility of additional adverse effects due to these medications.
		“The body itch refused to stop but because of the tablets I buy from the pharmacy……. If you do not resume swallowing it again on the following day, the itching starts again and worsens.”	Michael (44)
		“If she does not chew them, the medicine would come back (vomit it out).”	Sarah (30)
		“The lemon…can increase immunity…”	Ahmed (35)
		“Because there is a time you can get some attack and you cannot access any medical personnel at that time.”	Fred (43)
		“I took drugs to prevent the increasing vomiting.”	Sarah (38)
		“They make it from palm fruit seeds…it detoxifies the body and you get better…it made me energetic.”	John (45)
		“the herbal medicine has benefits but it also has its limitations just like western medicine with successes and failures.”	Caleb (56)
	“if medical doctors work with herbalists, they could get better results.”	Caleb (56)
	Reasons against	“I cannot take it because my doctor told me not to take herbal drugs.”	Joseph (28)
		“The doctors had told me that I would get side effects…I did not panic.”	Jacob (36)
		“after 6 months, I became weak…thin…coughing…I developed TB…Herbal can kill you.”	Moses (37)
		“the sellers…never tell you the duration,dose,diagnosis.”	Ritah (45)
“the herbals are not well checked like the western medicines.”		Vicent (37)
Challenges with adherence		“they should reduce the “obukambwe” [strength] of the medicine…because of its effects on us.”	Shamim (25)
		“If it finds you weak, it makes you weaker.”	Ritah (45)
		“We should be injected…sometimes, depending on what you are doing you forget…Why don’t they have any alternative?”	Fred (43)	Patients’ preferences should be considered when designing drug formulations
		“The drugs are too many and too strong.”	Jane (45)
		“could they change the flavour…smell?”	Fred (43)
		“people say ‘eehh! How do you swallow that big tablet?”	Silas (43)