More Frequent Use of Herbal Medicine Daily in Married and Divorced Women in Indonesia

Background: During the period of 2000-2006, the utilization of traditional medicine in Indonesia continued to increase. Data analysis was conducted to determine the profile of Indonesia's population using daily herbal medicine and the related factors. Methods: Analysis was conducted using the 2010 Basic Health Research Survey (Riset Kesehatan Dasar/Riskesdas) data covering a sub sample of people 15 years and older (179,227 people) in 33 provinces of Indonesia. Inclusion criteria limited the sub-sample to those people that use herbal medicine daily (7,847 persons) and those who have never used herbal medicine (81,415 persons). Individual level data included information on age, gender, marital status, educational attainment, employment, household expenditure per month, residence, etc. Results: Four point four percent (4.4%) of Indonesia's population uses herbal medicine daily. A larger proportion of the population buys traditional medicine products in a liquid dosage form than make herbal medicine at home, and most feel that they benefit from the use of herbal preparation. Married /divorce rather than unmarried subjects were 4.5-fold more likely to use herbal medicine daily [adjusted odds ratio (ORa)=4.42; 9% confidence interval (CI)=4.09-4.77). In term of residency, rural rather than urban residents were 2.2-fold more likely to use herbal medicine daily (ORa=2.18; CI=2.08-2.29), and female than male were 62% more likely to use herbal medicine daily (ORa=1.62; CI=1.55-1.70). Conclusion: Married or divorced, female residents were more likely to use herbal medicines daily. (Health Science Indones 2011;2:3-8