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. 2023 Apr;55(2):442-451.
doi: 10.4143/crt.2022.1483.

Status of Using Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Patients with Cancer in Korea: an Online Survey of Online Cancer Support Groups (KCSG PC21-20)

Jung Sun Kim  1 , Jung Hye Kwon  1   2   3 , Sun Young Rha  4 , Sang-Cheol Lee  5 , Yoon Jung Chang  6 , In-Sun Kwon  7 , Kyung Han You  8 , Ho Young Yoon  9
Affiliations

Status of Using Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Patients with Cancer in Korea: an Online Survey of Online Cancer Support Groups (KCSG PC21-20)

Jung Sun Kim et al. Cancer Res Treat. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: An increasing number of patients with cancers are interested in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which lacks scientific evidence. This study aimed to determine how CAM was used and how media affected patients in online cancer support groups (OCSG).

Materials and methods: Between August 18 and September 12, 2021, an online survey was conducted among the members of OCSG. The survey consisted of five parts: baseline characteristics, attitudes toward and experience with CAM, source of information and reliabilities, experience with anthelmintics, and online health information literacy and usage.

Results: Among the 644 responders, a total of 221 patients with cancer completed the survey, and 78.2% (173/221) used CAM. The users' median age was 52 years; 46.8% were males, and 43.9% had metastatic disease. Fifty-three CAM users (30.6%) discussed their physicians about CAM. In addition, 16.2% (28/173) of CAM users had the experience of anthelmintics. The use of anthelmintics in patients with cancers was associated with younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84 to 0.95), metastatic disease (OR, 10.88; 95% CI, 3.39 to 34.86), previous exposure to CAM information (OR, 5.57; 95% CI, 1.01 to 30.72), experience with more types of CAM (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.29 to 3.05), and side effects (OR, 5.10; 95% CI 1.46 to 17.75).

Conclusion: Use of anthelmintics, a CAM of which information is widespread online, is affected by several factors. This study will provide essential information for developing a CAM management strategy in this digital age.

Keywords: Anthelmintics; Complementary and alternative medicine; Neoplasms; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

Conflict of interest relevant to this article was not reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Consort flow. IP, Internet Protocol address.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Expectations from and experiences of complementary alternative medicine (CAM). a)For p < 0.001.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Source of information and reliabilities expressed in median Likert scores. Likert score was adopted to evaluate reliabilities of each source, ranging from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Reasons for not having discussion with physicians about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) (n=173).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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