ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2025
Herbal medicines and blood pressure control among hypertensive individuals across two of trinidad's regional health facilities.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSelf-medication with herbal medicine (HM) to manage hypertension is an expanding trend worldwide. There is very little evidence to substantiate the motives for use in the control of blood pressure (BP). This study aims to ascertain the relationship between HM and antihypertensive treatment to manage hypertension across two regional health facilities in Trinidad.
methodsThis cross-sectional investigation surveyed hypertensive patients aged 35-64 from the North-Central and Eastern Regional Health facilities across Trinidad. Consent was obtained from 139 participants through convenience sampling. Data collection was obtained using a questionnaire designed and developed by the research team, included a self-reporting questions and patient medical records sections. Data was analysed using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests for non-normally distributed variables, with statistical significance set at a 95% confidence interval.
resultsHM-users were either hypertensive stage 1 or 2 with no significant correlation between BMI and hypertensive stage (p-value = -0.053, p-value = 0.537). Garlic (Allium sativum L) (57%), most used as a tea, was taken daily 'to control BP'. The current systolic and diastolic blood pressures were not significantly different between HM-users and non-users. Among herbal medicine users, 15.7% achieved blood pressure control compared to 30.4% for non-users. Patients using herbal medicine (84.3%) were more likely to have uncontrolled blood pressure (p-value < 0.05), supported by a negative correlation (phi = -0.175) and an odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.426 (0.187-0.969). Patient non-concordance to conventional medication was found to be higher among HM-users identified by the negative association among patients with uncontrolled BP. However, there was no statistically significant difference in non-concordance between HM users (40%) and non-users (29.6%). Antihypertensives prescribed included calcium channel blockers (70.1%), ACE inhibitors (46.3%), and angiotensin-II receptor blockers (40.6%). The most used herb, A. sativum, was preferred for BP control, however, this study showed no significant changes in BP compared to non-users.
conclusionPatient medication concordance is imperative. Herb-drug interactions may be associated with the higher prevalence of patients at hypertensive stages 1 and 2 that are uncontrolled in this study.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.