Attitudes and understanding of complementary and alternative medicine in cancer care: An exploratory study of patients' perspectives in Karachi, Pakistan

IF 1.9 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Asian Pacific journal of tropical medicine Pub Date : 2023-09-01 DOI:10.4103/1995-7645.386075

Shahlla Imam, Muneeba Aijaz, Wajiha Iffat, Shazia Qasim Jamshed, Nahlah Elkudssiah Ismail, Ganesh Sritheran Paneerselvam, Khang Wen Goh, Long Chiau Ming, Halima Sadia, Iqbal Azhar

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities among patients with cancer in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2021 to December 2021. Five hundred patients with cancer were invited to participate in the study. Electronic databases, namely, Google scholar, Publons, EMBASE, PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, and ResearchGate was used for questionnaire designed. The self-administered survey included questions on demographic characteristics, education level, socio-economic conditions and information about CAM therapies, prevalence, effectiveness, and common CAM modalities. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 22. Results: Out of the 500 invited patients, 433 (86.6%) successfully completed and returned the questionnaires. In contrast to patients who were with younger, highly educated, professionally active, higher income, and had advanced cancer, time since diagnosis, type of treatment, cancer types and family history are significantly associated with CAM use. The results showed that 59.8% of the participants were acquainted with complementary and/or alternative medicine and considered safe owing to its natural ingredients. The prevalence of CAM usage among cancer patients was 40.9% and the most widely used CAM modality was herbal medicine (27.7%) and dietary supplements (28.8%). Patients used CAM as a complementary therapy to improve the morphological parameter (28.2%), strengthen the immune system (6.8%), and to decrease the side effects of conventional treatment (18.1%). Most of the respondents get the information regarding CAM therapy from the electronic media (43.2%) and the family members (48%) rather than healthcare personnel. Conclusions: Participants used CAM modalities along with the conventional health care practices. Further multicentre studies should be conducted to provide information regarding the usage of CAM therapies and their eventual benefits in patients with cancer.

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对癌症治疗中补充和替代医学的态度和理解:巴基斯坦卡拉奇患者观点的探索性研究

目的:评估巴基斯坦卡拉奇地区癌症患者补充和替代医学(CAM)模式的流行程度和类型。方法:该描述性横断面研究于2021年3月至2021年12月进行。500名癌症患者被邀请参加这项研究。问卷设计采用Google scholar、Publons、EMBASE、PubMed、Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database、ResearchGate等电子数据库。自我管理的调查包括人口特征、教育水平、社会经济条件和辅助生殖疗法的信息、流行程度、有效性和常见的辅助生殖疗法模式。采用SPSS软件22进行统计分析。结果:入选500例患者中，433例(86.6%)成功填写并归还问卷。与年轻、高学历、职业活跃、高收入和晚期癌症患者相比，自诊断以来的时间、治疗类型、癌症类型和家族史与CAM的使用显著相关。结果显示，59.8%的参与者了解补充和/或替代医学，并认为其天然成分是安全的。癌症患者CAM使用率为40.9%，使用最多的CAM方式为中草药(27.7%)和膳食补充剂(28.8%)。患者将CAM作为辅助治疗，改善形态学参数(28.2%)，增强免疫系统(6.8%)，减少常规治疗的副作用(18.1%)。大多数受访者是通过电子媒体(43.2%)和家庭成员(48%)而不是卫生保健人员获得CAM治疗的信息。结论:参与者使用CAM模式与传统的卫生保健做法。应该进行进一步的多中心研究，以提供有关辅助生殖疗法的使用及其对癌症患者的最终益处的信息。

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来源期刊

Asian Pacific journal of tropical medicine PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-TROPICAL MEDICINE

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

9.70%

发文量

1936

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine (ISSN 1995-7645 CODEN: APJTB6), a publication of Editorial office of Hainan Medical University,is a peer-reviewed print + online Monthly journal. The journal''s full text is available online at http://www.apjtm.org/. The journal allows free access (Open Access) to its contents and permits authors to self-archive final accepted version of the articles on any OAI-compliant institutional / subject-based repository. APJTM aims to provide an academic communicating platform for international physicians, medical scientists, allied health scientists and public health workers, especially those of the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide on tropical medicine, infectious diseases and public health, and to meet the growing challenges of understanding, preventing and controlling the dramatic global emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific. The journal is proud to have an international and diverse editorial board that will assist and facilitate the publication of articles that reflect a global view on tropical medicine, infectious diseases and public health, as well as emphasizing our focus on supporting the needs of public health practitioners. The APJTM will allow us to seek opportunities to work with others who share our aim, and to enhance our work through partnership, and to uphold the standards of our profession and contribute to its advancement.