This article shows how to use classic risk factor analysis to analyze the results of patient compliance with, or adherence to, Ayurveda principles of health promotion. Specifically, patient habits and behavior obtained from forms filled out by entering patients at five Rasahara Kendra clinics founded by the first author in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, were used to assess the relative value of Ayurvedic ahara-vihara advice for health of the incoming patients, compared to a healthy group of comparably aged adults interviewed independently in the same region of the city. Results are presented in a series of classic risk factor contingency tables, and the various odds ratios and significance p values given. As may be seen from the results, only one of the Ayurvedic principles analyzed failed to reach a significance of p
Key words: traditional medicine, lifestyle risk factors, chronic disease, metabolic syndrome, BMI, hypothyroidism, contingency tables
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