Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Sep;97(9):2391-7.
doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2002.05993.x.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with liver disease

Doris B Strader  1 , Bruce R Bacon, Karen L Lindsay, Douglas R La Brecque, Timothy Morgan, Elizabeth C Wright, Jeff Allen, M Farooq Khokar, Jay H Hoofnagle, Leonard B Seeff
Affiliations

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with liver disease

Doris B Strader et al. Am J Gastroenterol. 2002 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is used by 42% of the U.S. population. Its use among patients with chronic liver disease has not been well defined. Toward that end, we surveyed patients in six geographically diverse liver disease clinics in the United States for use of CAM.

Methods: Patients attending six liver disease clinics were polled via a common questionnaire regarding their use of CAM. Demographic information was obtained to identify predictors of CAM use. Statistical analysis included univariate and multivariate analysis using logistic regression.

Results: A total of 989 patients completed the questionnaire. Of these, 389 (39%) admitted to using some form of CAM at least once during the preceding month; 21% admitted to using herbal preparations, and 13% used herbs to treat their liver disease. Five variables were found to be predictive of alternative therapy use: female sex, young age, level of education, annual income, and geographic location. In all, 74% of patients reported using CAM in addition to the medications prescribed by their physician, but 26% did not inform their physician of their CAM use.

Conclusions: CAM use is as common among patients visiting liver disease clinics in the United States as in the general population (39% vs 42%). Many patients are using herbs to treat their liver disease but are declining to discuss this use with their physician.

PubMed Disclaimer