Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of hypertensives using or not using complementary and alternative therapies
| Characteristics | Overall population n = 225 (% or SD) | CAM users n = 88 (% or SD) | CAM non-users n = 137 (% or SD) | Test statistic* | P value |
| Mean age, years (SD) | 55.1 (12.4) | 55.2 (10.5) | 55.0 (13.5) | 0.16 | NS |
| Male/female | 90/135 | 32/56 | 58/79 | 0.79 | NS |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 28.3 (5.5) | 29.1 (5.6) | 27.1 (5.9) | 1.96 | 0.05 |
| Initial systolic blood pressure mmHg | 159.9 (25.4) | 158.3 (24.8) | 161.0 (25.8) | 0.77 | NS |
| Initial diastolic blood pressure mmHg | 102.5 (17.4) | 100.9 (15.6) | 103.5 (18.4) | 1.08 | NS |
| Current systolic blood pressure mmHg | 141.9 (23.4) | 140.4 (22.1) | 142.8 (24.3) | 0.76 | NS |
| Current diastolic blood pressure mmHg | 89.2 (16.2) | 87.7 (12.8) | 90.1 (18.0) | 1.07 | NS |
| % compliant | 148 (65.8) | 57 (64.8%) | 91 (66.4%) | 0.06 | NS |
| % Blood pressure controlled | 89 (39.6) | 35 (39.8%) | 54 (39.4%) | 0.00 | NS |
| Duration of hypertension (years) | 10.8 (8.5) | 10.7 (8.7) | 10.7 (8.4) | 0.02 | NS |
| Duration of clinic attendance (months) | 79.5 (77.4) | 73.6 (73.1) | 83.4 (80.1) | 0.78 | NS |
* Statistical comparison of the CAM users and non-users. Test statistic derived from students T test comparing mean values, and Χ2 test comparing proportions.
CAM complementary and alternative medicine