Alternative Medicine’ Complaints Lodged to the Tehran Forensic Medicine Organization From 2011 to 2017

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine is a non-conventional therapy and includes a wide range of medical treatments in different countries. This study was done to evaluate alternative medicine complaints lodged to the Tehran Forensic Medicine Organization from 2011-2017.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all documented complaints of complementary medicine lodged to the Tehran Forensic Medicine Organization from 2011-2017 were reviewed and assessed with retrospective follow-up. The inclusion criterion was complaints from complementary and alternative medicine, and the exclusion criterion was incomplete data. The study data included patients’ demographic data, the therapist, the specialty of the therapist, type of disease, treatment method, adverse effects, the initial and final decision by the commission, and the amount of medical error. This information was extracted from the existing documents and recoded in the checklists.Results: Medical errors were found in 53.4% of the complaints examined. The most common cause of complaint (63%) was the adverse effects, of which the most common ones were phytotherapy (45.2%) and cupping (Hijama) (20.5%). The error was significantly different between physician and non-physician healers (P=0.001).Conclusion: Based on this study, among the alternative medicine complaints lodged to the Tehran Forensic Medicine Organization from 2011-2017, the adverse effects were the main problem of complementary therapies confirmed in more than half of the complaints.

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Safety and Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Norway During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic Using an Adapted Version of the I-CAM-Q: A Cross-Sectional Survey

10.21203/rs.3.rs-612371/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Agnete Egilsdatter Kristoffersen ◽

Miek C. Jong ◽

Johanna Hök Nordberg ◽

Esther T. van der Werf ◽

Trine Stub

Keyword(s):

Adverse Effects ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Well Being ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Fisher Exact Test ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Exact Test ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Abstract BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has had a profound impact on physical and mental well-being throughout the world. Previous studies have revealed that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is frequently used for, and can be potential beneficial for strengthening physical mental resilience. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence, associations and reasons for use of CAM during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among a representative sample of the Norwegian population, and determine possible effects and adverse effects of the treatments. MethodsComputer assisted telephone interviews using a COVID-adapted I-CAM-Q questionnaire were conducted with 1008 randomly selected Norwegians aged 16 and above using multistage sampling during April and May 2020 applying age and sex quotas for each area. Descriptive statistics were carried out using Pearson’s Chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and Independent samples T-tests to identify group differences. ResultsThe study revealed that two thirds of the respondents (67%) had used CAM within the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular CAM modalities that did not involve a provider. Most used were natural remedies and dietary supplement (57%, mainly vitamins and minerals), but self-help practices like yoga and meditation were also widely used (24%). Women used CAM modalities significantly more than men (77% vs. 58%). Most of the respondents found the modalities they used beneficial, and 5% reported adverse effects of the treatments.ConclusionsThe first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has not profoundly changed the overall need of Norwegian citizens to seek care outside the conventional healthcare system, but rather caused a shift in the type of CAM modalities used. The risk profile of these modalities was generally low as only 5 % of the respondents reported adverse effects. Further studies are needed to confirm the change from provider based to self-administered CAM use.

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Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among General Population in South India - A Cross-Sectional Study

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences ◽

10.26452/ijrps.v12i4.4876 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 2400-2405

Author(s):

Yamuna Devi M. S. ◽

Shanmugapriya S ◽

Kaavya S

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

South India ◽

Geographical Area ◽

Care Facility ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Study Results ◽

Wide Range ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to a wide range of clinical therapies outside of conventional medicine used along with the physician prescribed drugs to complement the treatment. It is widely accepted and used across the globe. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of use of CAM among the general population and to determine the acceptability, extent and pattern of CAM use. This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was done among the general population in South India. 300 participants aged >18 years were included in the study irrespective of their genders. An interviewer-administered questionnaire with 20 questions was used to assess CAM usage. The statistical analysis was done by Chi-square test using SPSS version 25. The mean age was 50.39 (± 15.67) years. CAM usage was significantly influenced by age, educational qualification, occupation, geographical area and accessibility to a health care facility. The prevalence of CAM usage was found to be 62%. Homeopathy/Herbal medicine (34%) was the most commonly used CAM. About 35% had used CAM without the knowledge of their treating physician. More than 60% believe that CAM is safe with fewer side effects and around half of them had symptomatic relief following CAM usage. Our study results indicate the need for more studies testing various CAM modalities exploring their uses, adverse effects & interactions with other drugs, which in turn can guide the physicians in their treatment.

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Patterns of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use, Perceived Benefits, and Adverse Effects among Adult Users in Enugu Urban, Southeast Nigeria

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2014/239372 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Ijeoma Okoronkwo ◽

Jane-lovena Onyia-pat ◽

Pat Okpala ◽

Mary-Ann Agbo ◽

Afam Ndu

Keyword(s):

Adverse Effects ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Conventional Medicine ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Perceived Benefits ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Major Route ◽

Cam Use ◽

Complementary And Alternative

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is now on the increase. Evidence from studies carried out globally has established that CAM use is very common and varies among populations. This study investigated patterns of CAM use, perceived benefits, and associated harm with CAM use among adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three local government areas of Enugu urban, Southeast Nigeria. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from all consenting adult participants aged between 18 and 65 years. Of the 732 participants interviewed, 62.8% were females while 37.2% were males. Majority (84.7%) of the participants had used CAM at one time or another. The most commonly used CAM product was the biological products, followed by spiritual therapy. The major route of administration for CAM products was oral and about 40% of the participants combined CAM with conventional medicine. Majority (78.6%) of CAM users benefited from CAM products after using them while a few complained of adverse reactions. As CAM is gaining widespread acceptance and use, there is need for clinical trial on the benefits and adverse effects associated with the use of CAM to facilitate proof of efficacy and safety of the products.

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Mothers’ Attitudes toward the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Children with Cancer

International Journal of Cancer Management ◽

10.5812/ijcm.104870 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

Author(s):

Atena Dadgari ◽

Imane Bagheri ◽

Naiire Salmani ◽

Mahnaz Mirakhor

Keyword(s):

Side Effects ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Information Source ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Children With Cancer ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Face ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Background: Children who have cancer suffer from a wide range of symptoms and side-effects of disease and treatment, and such conditions have harmful effects on the quality of life of a child and family. So, the families of such children turn to complementary and alternative medicine treatments for children with cancer. Objectives: Therefore, this study aimed at determining the mothers’ attitudes toward the use of complementary and alternative medicine in children with cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted from January 2018 to January 2019 in the oncology section of Yazd Shahid Sadooghi Hospital in a nonrandom and convenience sampling method on 150 mothers of children with cancer. The instruments of data collection include demographic information questionnaires and a 6-part questionnaire to evaluate mothers’ performance. To investigate the face and content validity of the questionnaire, the opinions of 10 experts were considered, and to investigate the reliability of the questionnaire, the test-retest method was used, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was reportedly 0.80. After completing the questionnaires, the collected data were analyzed, using SPSS 23 by utilizing descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation (SD), frequency, and percent. Results: Overall, 83.34% of mothers mentioned praying as a way of complementary and alternative medicine, 67.34% used complementary and alternative medicine to increase child recovery chance, 74% reported general child recovery, 20% reported the occurrence of side-effects following the use of complementary and alternative medicine, 67.33% introduced their friends as their information source, 33.6% avoided informing the physician regarding the use of complementary and alternative medicine, and 76% maintained that due to the objection of physicians, they avoided informing him/her. Conclusions: The use of complementary and alternative medicine is common among mothers but due to the occurrence of side-effects, using invalid information sources and hiding it from a physician, the oncologists must provide a suitable opportunity for asking and answering to guide mothers for correct performance in the use of complementary and alternative medicine.

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Beliefs, practices and knowledge of community pharmacists regarding complementary and alternative medicine: national cross-sectional study in Lebanon

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025074 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. e025074 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mohamad Ali Hijazi ◽

Hibeh Shatila ◽

Abdalla El-Lakany ◽

Maha Aboul Ela ◽

Samer Kharroubi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Side Effects ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Community Pharmacists ◽

Knowledge Score ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Positive Role ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Complementary And Alternative

IntroductionPharmacists are uniquely positioned to provide patients with evidence-based information in order to ensure effective and safe use of Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products.ObjectiveAssess beliefs, practices and knowledge related to CAM products among community pharmacists in Lebanon.Design, methods and settingUsing stratified random sampling, a nationally representative survey was conducted among community pharmacists in Lebanon. Through face-to-face interviews, pharmacists completed a multicomponent questionnaire consisting of four sections: (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) beliefs related to regulation of CAM products, role of media in promoting their safe use, availability of resources and continuing education; (3) practices including selling CAM products, providing advice for patients and reporting adverse effects and (4) knowledge about specific CAM products, their uses, side effects and interactions.ResultsA total of 341 pharmacists agreed to participate (response rate: 86%). Only pharmacists with complete data were included in this study (n=310). Pharmacists agreed that CAM products are effective (63.8%) and that they should be exclusively sold in pharmacies (80.3%), but disagreed that commercially marketed CAM products are well regulated (63.5%) and that media plays a positive role in educating users about these products (55.8%). As for practices, 64.5% of pharmacists were always or often advising patients on safe use; however, 74.2% of participants rarely or never reported adverse effects. Regarding knowledge, although the majority of pharmacists were aware of the uses of CAM products, fewer knew about their side effects and their interactions with drugs. After adjustment for covariates, receiving education/training on CAM products during university was the sole predictor of higher knowledge score (ß=0.68, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.07).ConclusionsThis study revealed positive beliefs of pharmacists in Lebanon towards CAM products and indicated important gaps in their practice and knowledge. Deliberate efforts to enhance the education of pharmacists are warranted to ensure the safe integration and use of CAM products in Lebanon.

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Awareness about complementary and alternative medicine among attendees of urban and rural health training centres of a medical college in North Karnataka

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20183573 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (9) ◽

pp. 3924

Author(s):

Chandan N. ◽

Kiran Patil

Keyword(s):

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Orthodox Medicine ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical College ◽

Wide Range ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) includes a wide range of practices that do not fit within the dominant biomedical model of health care and are not commonly provided within orthodox medicine settings. People might be attracted to and use CAM because they hold beliefs that are congruent with CAM. But safety and efficacy of these systems are not well established. So this study was done to assess awareness among patients attending UHTC and RHTC about CAM.Methods: Cross sectional study was done in UHTC and RHTC of SDMCMSH, Dharwad, India. Data was collected by using pre designed interview schedule from 200 patients. Data was entered in Microsoft excel 2013 and analysed using IBM SPSS v20. Descriptive statistics and chi square test were applied. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: 100 patients each from UHTC and RHTC were included in the study. 93% of UHTC and 98% of RHTC patients were aware about CAM. 74% in UHTC and 60% in RHTC were aware of advertisements about CAM. 96% of UHTC and 100% of RHTC patients said CAMs have no side effects. 45% from UHTC and 14% from RHTC preferred CAM. 43% from UHTC and 42% from RHTC patients had used CAM.Conclusions: The awareness about CAM in our study is high, 93% among urban and 98% among rural study participants. Ayurveda was the most commonly used AMT.

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Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Breast Cancer Patients at a Medical Center in Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Integrative Cancer Therapies ◽

10.1177/1534735420983910 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 ◽

pp. 153473542098391

Author(s):

Chieh-Ying Chin ◽

Yung-Hsiang Chen ◽

Shin-Chung Wu ◽

Chien-Ting Liu ◽

Yun-Fang Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Medical Center ◽

Cancer Center ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cam Use ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Background Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is becoming more common in medical practice, but little is known about the concurrent use of CAM and conventional treatment. Therefore, the aim was to investigate the types of CAM used and their prevalence in a regional patient cohort with breast cancer (BC). Methods BC patients were interviewed with a structured questionnaire survey on the use of CAM in southern Taiwan at an Integrative Breast Cancer Center (IBCC). The National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) classification was used to group responses. Over a period of 8 months, all patients receiving treatment for cancer at the IBCC were approached. Results A total of 106 BC patients completed the survey (response rate: 79.7%). The prevalence of CAM use was 82.4%. Patients who were employed, were receiving radiotherapy and hormone therapy, and had cancer for a longer duration were more likely to use CAM ( P < .05). Multivariate analysis identified employment as an independent predictor of CAM use (OR = 6.92; 95% CI = 1.33-36.15). Dietary supplementation (n = 69, 82.1%) was the type of CAM most frequently used, followed by exercise (n = 48, 57.1%) and traditional Chinese medicine (n = 29, 34.5%). The main reason for using CAM was to ameliorate the side effects of conventional therapies. Almost half (46.4%) of these CAM users did not disclose that they were using it in medical consultations with their physicians. Most chose to use CAM due to recommendations from family and friends. Conclusion A large portion of BC patients at the IBCC undergoing anti-cancer treatment courses used CAM, but less than half discussed it with their physicians. Given the high prevalence of CAM, it would be justifiable to direct further resources toward this service so that cancer patients can benefit from a holistic approach to their treatment.

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