Pattern of garlic use among Ethiopian immigrants in the United States

OBJECTIVE: To determine sociodemographic factors that affect the use of garlic among Ethiopian immigrants in the United States of America (USA). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out to determine the pattern of garlic use among 355 Ethiopian immigrants in the USA. Descriptive statistics were utilized to characterize the sample regarding gender, age, education, income and length of residency in the USA. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine which factors were associated with use of garlic. Multivariate logistic regression was utilized to evaluate which characteristics predicted use of garlic after adjusting for other variables. RESULTS: A binary logistic regression analysis showed that gender, education and annual family income were predictive of garlic use. Females were about 2.2 times more likely to use garlic than males. Survey participants with some college or associate degree level education had 2.3 times greater odds of using garlic than those with only high school education. Participants with household incomes greater than $100,000 are 0.36 times less likely to use garlic than those with incomes in the range $0 to $50,000. Similar pattern was observed in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Characteristics such as gender, education and income have significant association with garlic use and can be helpful for predicting which socio-demographic groups of Ethiopian immigrants are more likely to use garlic.