Table 4.
Participants' response on therapy affordability, coping mechanism for medicine expenses and measure taken for medicines unaffordability
| Variables | Response, N (%) | |||
| Hypertensive | Type 2 diabetes | |||
| Medicine affordability | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Ability to consistently afford the cost of prescribed medicines | 144 (57.6) | 106 (42.4) | 100 (50.0) | 100 (50.0) |
| Measure taken in case of medicine unaffordability | N = 106 | N = 100 | ||
| Delay the use of medication | 38 (35.8) | 50 (50.0) | ||
| Use herbal preparation as alternative | 19 (17.9) | 8 (8.0) | ||
| Reduce the dose to be taken | 11 (10.4) | 8 (8.0) | ||
| Do not buy prescribed medicines at all | 6 (5.7) | 8 (8.0) | ||
| Skip doses of medication | 1 (0.9) | 3 (3.0) | ||
| Delay the use of medication + Skip doses of medication | 25 (23.6) | 23 (23.0) | ||
| Delay the use of medication + Use herbal preparation as alternative | 3 (2.8) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Delay the use of medication + Do not buy prescribed medication at all | 2 (1.9) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Delay the use of medication, skip doses + use herbal preparation as alternative | 1 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Summary of responses | N = 112 | N = 100 | ||
| Delay and skip doses of medication | 70 (62.5) | 76 (76.0) | ||
| Use herbal preparation as alternative | 23 (20.5) | 8 (8.0) | ||
| Reduce the dose to be taken | 11 (9.8) | 8 (8.0) | ||
| Do not buy prescribed medicines at all | 8 (7.1) | 8 (8.0) | ||
| Coping mechanism for therapy expenses | N = 212 | N = 129 | ||
| Borrow money from family and friends | 95 (44.8) | 52 (40.3) | ||
| Reduced expenses on feeding/clothing for the family | 42 (19.8) | 36 (27.9) | ||
| Sell personal properties | 36 (17.0) | 5 (3.9) | ||
| Delay/stop children education | 1 (0.5) | 4 (3.1) | ||
| Borrow money from family and friends + Reduced expenses on feeding/clothing for the family |
24 (11.3) | 29 (22.5) | ||
| Borrow money from family and friends + Sell personal properties | 14 (6.6) | 3 (2.3) | ||
| Summary of responses | N = 250 | N = 161 | ||
| Borrow money from family and friends | 133 (53.2) | 84 (52.2) | ||
| Reduced expenses on feeding/clothing for the family | 66 (26.4) | 65 (40.4) | ||
| Sell personal properties | 50 (20.0) | 8 (5.0) | ||
| Delay/stop children education | 1 (0.4) | 4 (2.5) | ||
Multiple responses were merged together in some cases, but analysis is based on valid response, N = number