Behaviors and Attitudes toward the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Korean Cancer Patients

Abstract

Purpose: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to explore the current awareness and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), as well as attitudes toward CAM, in patients with cancer and their family members in South Korea.

Materials and methods: Between September 21 and October 31, 2017, a 25-item questionnaire regarding CAM experiences among cancer patients and their family members was conducted in 10 oncology clinics in South Korea after institutional review board approval at each institution.

Results: In total, 283/310 patients were analyzed. The median age was 60 years, and 60% were male. Most of the patients were actively receiving anticancer treatment at the time of the survey. A total of 106 patients (37%) had experienced a median of two types (interquartile range, 1 to 3) of CAM. Belief in CAM (odds ratio [OR], 3.015; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.611 to 5.640) and duration of disease (OR, 1.012; 95% CI, 1.004 to 1.020) were independent factors for using CAM in multivariable analysis. Belief in CAM was significantly associated with current use of CAM (OR, 3.633; 95% CI, 1.567 to 8.424). Lay referral was the most common reason for deciding to use CAM, and only 25% of patients (72/283) discussed CAM with their physicians.

Conclusion: Patient attitudes toward and confidence in CAM modalities were strongly associated with their CAM experiences, and only a small number of patients had an open discussion about CAM with their physicians. A patient education program for CAM is needed.

Keywords: Attitudes; Complementary and alternative medicine; Neoplasms.

Fig. 1.

Study consort diagram. CAM, complementary and alternative medicine.

Fig. 2.

Satisfaction with complementary alternative medicine according to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities in 283 patients. (A) Number of patients who are aware of the types of CAM, those who have previously used CAM, and those who are current CAM users. (B) Satisfaction score (0-10) for each CAM modality in 106 patients. The median and quartile values are displayed; Q1-Q3, 1st quartile-3rd quartile. NA, not available.

Fig. 3.

Patients’ answers on multiple-choice questions regarding their expectations about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) before use (left side) and met their expectancy after using CAM (right side).

Fig. 4.

Sources of information of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM): tree-map of various sources of information from all patients for multiple-choice questions on the left side (A) and the percentage of actual sources from multiple-choice questions and sources that were regarded as reliable by patients from single-choice questions on the right side (B).