Determinants of herbal medical services utilization among retired personnel in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

Retired personnel aged 60 years and above represent a significant portion of the shift in Ghana’s demographics towards older ages. As older people, retirees are likely to experience some health challenges associated with ageing. Therefore, gaining insight into their preferences for herbal medicine is important given its potential implications for wellbeing. The objective of this study was to examine the determinants of herbal medical services utilization among retirees in Ghana. This study used a cross-sectional survey design. Participants were selected using cluster and stratified sampling techniques. In all, 410 participants constituted the analytical sample. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to estimate the factors determining herbal medical services utilization among the participants. The significance of the test was set at a p-value ≤ 0.05. The results showed that male participants (AOR: 2.866, 95%CI: 1.413–5.816), those with secondary education (AOR: 2.873, 95%CI: 1.194–6.909), those who were very dissatisfied (AOR: 9.560, 95%CI: 1.391–65.705) and dissatisfied (AOR: 2.611, 95%CI: 1.151–5.922) with their health status significantly had a higher likelihood of using herbal medical services compared to their counterparts. Also, the results suggested that those who were married (AOR: 0.210, 95%CI: 0.097-0.458), never married/separated (AOR: 0.238, 95%CI: 0.070-0.801), spent less than 500 cedis (AOR: 0.363, 95%CI: 0.162-0.813), 1000–1499 cedis as household expenditure in a month (AOR: 0.318, 95%CI: 0.137-0.740) and performed daily exercises (AOR: 0.274, 95%CI: 0.141-0.531) were significantly less likely to use herbal medical services compared to their counterparts. This study revealed that gender, marital status, education level, expenditure on household, daily exercises and satisfaction with health status determine the utilization of herbal medical services among the participants. The implications of the findings for policy, practice, and future research are also presented in the manuscript.