Prevalence and associated factors of herbal medicine use among patients living with chronic disease in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Complementary use of medicinal plants with prescribed drugs is becoming more widespread concern among people with chronic disease like cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and hypertension. Consequently, the purpose of this review was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of herbal medicine use among patients suffering from chronic disease. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted by searching articles from Cochrane library, Google scholar, PubMed and African journal online. Data was extracted using Microsoft excel format and imported in to Stata software version 11 (Stata Corp LLC, TX, USA) for analysis. Statistical heterogeneity across the studies was investigated using Cochran's Q chi-square test at the significance level of <0.05 and the I-2 index. A random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of herbal medicine use. Results: Our systematic search yielded a total of 17,665 records from four databases (Google scholar (12,800), PubMed (3835), Cochrane library (30) and African journal online (12). The pooled estimate of herbal medicine use among patients with chronic disease in Ethiopia is found to be 56.94% (95% CI: 49.75, 64.12, P < 0.001). Being female (POR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.55, 2.75, I-2 = 10.0%), rural residence (POR = 2.80, 95% CI = 1.42, 5.52, I-2 = 89.1%), duration of the disease greater than 5 years (POR = 6.42, 95% CI = 4.188, 9.84, I-2 = 48.3%) and having complication (POR = 4.65, 95% CI = 3.75, 5.77, I-2 = 0.0%) were factors associated with herbal medicine use among patients living with chronic disease. Conclusion: The study found a high prevalence of herbal medicine use among patients living with chronic disease. Being female, rural residence, duration of disease greater than 5 years and having complication were factors that are significantly associated with herbal medicine use. The prevalence of herbal medicine use among persons with chronic disease in Ethiopia presents significant implications for healthcare practice. Healthcare professionals need to adopt a patient-centered strategy that promotes open, judgment-free discussions about herbal medicine usage.