Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24141/1/3/1/1
Experiences of Cancer Patients in the Application of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Ljerka Armano
orcid.org/0000-0002-0267-3167
; Division of Hospital Acquired Infection Prevention, Clinical Hospital Sisters of Mercy, Zagreb, Croatia
Olivera Petrak
orcid.org/0000-0002-8238-3038
; Department of Health Psychology, University of Applied Health Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
Josipa Kern
orcid.org/0000-0002-0896-3018
; Department of Medical Statistics, Epidemiology and Medical Informatics, School of Public Health „Andrija Štampar”, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Complementary and alternative medicine use among cancer patients has increased in recent years. The aim of this study was to explore the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer patients, and to find out which are the most commonly used methods. Furthermore, the aim was also to explore the connection between the use of CAM and the demographic characteristics of the patients and to investigate the sources of information about CAM. The study included 82 patients from one oncology ward, 60 women and 22 men, within the age range of 24-83 years. A survey was constructed with 25 questions divided in three groups: sociodemographic status, questions about illness and therapy, and questions about using CAM.
The results show that more than two-thirds (72.2%) of the cancer patients reported using some form of CAM at least once in their lives („life” prevalence), and in the time of the study the prevalence of CAM use was 46.8%. Most patients were using CAM because they wanted to boost the immune system (46.3%), improve their physical well-being (23.2%), relieve side-effects of chemotherapy or improve their emotional well-being (14.6%). In terms of gender, women tend to use more CAM than men. Age and educational level are not significant factors in CAM use.
Regarding the current data, communication between patients and their health providers (oncologist and nurses) is critical. This study showed that almost 65% of the participants had not disclosed their use of CAM to their oncologists, nor had 85% of them disclosed the information to nurses. The reasons for not reporting CAM use to their nurses or oncologists include „they never asked” or „they would disapprove”.
Friends were the most common source of information (36.6%), followed by media (31.7%) and the external health care professionals. This number is even lower for doctors and nurses as a support-group: only 2.4% of them were identified as the source of information for patients.
Keywords
complementary and alternative medicine; CAM; cancer patients
Hrčak ID:
183287
URI
Publication date:
26.6.2017.
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