Table 2.
Patterns of herbal compared to conventional medicinal product use
| |
Herbal medicinal products
|
Conventional medicinal products
|
P* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
n |
% |
95% CIs |
n |
% |
95% CIs |
|
| Total number of drugs | 1,152 | 100 | - | 10,433 | 100 | - | |
|
Origin
| |||||||
| Prescribed by doctors |
510 |
44.5 |
41.65-47.39 |
7012 |
67.7 |
66.8-68.6 |
.000 |
| Bought OTC |
425 |
37.1 |
34.34-39.92 |
2077 |
20.1 |
19.3-20.8 |
|
| Obtained from other sources |
211 |
18.4 |
16.28-20.77 |
1264 |
12.2 |
11.6-12.9 |
|
|
Missing |
6 |
|
|
80 |
|
|
|
|
Duration of use
| |||||||
| <1 week |
882 |
77.0 |
74.4-79.3 |
5114 |
49.8 |
48.8-50.8 |
.000 |
| 1-4 weeks |
221 |
19.3 |
17.1-21.7 |
1409 |
13.7 |
13.1-14.4 |
|
| 1-12 months |
25 |
2.2 |
1.5-3.2 |
2022 |
19.7 |
18.9-20.5 |
|
| 1 year or longer |
18 |
1.6 |
1.0-2.5 |
1724 |
16.8 |
16.1-17.5 |
|
|
Missing |
6 |
|
|
164 |
|
|
|
|
Self-rated improvement of conditions treated
| |||||||
| Greatly |
505 |
46.8 |
43.9-49.8 |
3841 |
55.9 |
54.7-57.0 |
.000 |
| Partly |
457 |
42.4 |
39.5-45.4 |
2426 |
35.3 |
34.1-36.4 |
|
| Not much |
80 |
7.4 |
6.0-9.2 |
427 |
6.2 |
5.7-6.8 |
|
| Not at all |
36 |
3.3 |
2.4-4.6 |
181 |
2.6 |
2.3-3.0 |
|
| Doesn’t apply** |
39 |
|
|
3199 |
|
|
|
|
Missing |
35 |
|
|
359 |
|
|
|
|
Tolerance of drug use
| |||||||
| Very good/good |
1,130 |
98.9 |
98.1-99.4 |
10182 |
98.4 |
98.2-98.6 |
.163 |
| Partly/not tolerated |
12 |
1.1 |
0.6-1.9 |
164 |
1.6 |
1.4-1.8 |
|
| Missing | 10 | 87 | |||||
*P-value: chi-square test for differences in proportions between herbal and conventional medicinal products.
**Drugs were used e. g. as a preventive measure, for contraception, or diagnosis was unknown.
Data source: German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) 2003–2006.