Factors associated with the attitude of herbs utilization among diabetes mellitus patients

The use of herbs for chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), has increased. Many factors are associated with the positive attitude of DM patients to the use of herbs, including demographic factors, knowledge of herbs, family support and characteristics of DM disease. The research used a cross sectional study, conducted in Tawangmangu Karanganyar Central Java Indonesia from March to May 2020. Subjects were 170 diabetes mellitus patients, aged 15-60 years who were examined at the Hortus Medicus Clinic or Community Health Center Tawangmangu Karanganyar Central Java Indonesia. The sample used purposive sampling. Data collection using questionnaires distributed to respondents. Data were analyzed univariate, bivariate, and multivariate using SPSS 25. Attitudes towards the use of herbs were associated with high knowledge of herbs (OR=3.78; 95% CI=1.6 - 8.87; p= 0.002), duration of DM disease ≥ 5 years (OR=3.41; 95% CI=1.70 - 8.99; p= 0.001 ), high education (OR=1.26; 95% CI=0.51 - 3.10; p =0.617) and employment status (OR=0.54; 95% CI=0.21 - 1.38; p =0.200). Knowledge of herbs and duration of DM disease were significantly related to the attitudes towards herbalism.