TY - JOUR
T1 - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Minority and Medically Underserved Oncology Patients
T2 - Assessment and Implications
AU - Jones, Desiree
AU - Cohen, Lorenzo
AU - Rieber, Alyssa G.
AU - Urbauer, Diana
AU - Fellman, Bryan
AU - Fisch, Michael J.
AU - Nazario, Arlene
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Introduction: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in minority and medically underserved oncology patients is not well documented. We assessed knowledge and utilization of CAM in a sample of these patients receiving treatment at an urban community hospital. Methods: Patients with cancer were interviewed using an electronic application that depicted specific CAM therapies. Patients were questioned on their knowledge and utilization of therapies, deterrents to use, and interest in using these therapies if they were made available. Results: Patients (n = 165) reported a high awareness and use of CAM therapies. CAM use was highest for prayer (85%), relaxation (54%), special diet (29%), meditation (19%), and massage (18%). Patients’ interest in using CAM was high for nearly all therapies. Lack of adequate knowledge and cost of use were reported as deterrents to use. Female patients reported higher use of aromatherapy relative to males (37.1% vs 19.4%, P =.02); those with higher education reported greater use of relaxation (60.8% vs 28.6%, P =.02); non-Hispanics reported higher use of relaxation relative to Hispanics (63.5% vs 44.2%, P =.03), and African American patients reported higher use of relaxation relative to White patients (69.2% vs 50%, P =.03). Conclusions: CAM use in minority and medically underserved cancer patients is common, but not professionally guided; thus, concerns remain regarding its safe use. Our data underscore the importance of patient-physician dialogue regarding CAM use in this patient population, and interest in access to the medically guided integration of evidence-based CAM therapies.
AB - Introduction: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in minority and medically underserved oncology patients is not well documented. We assessed knowledge and utilization of CAM in a sample of these patients receiving treatment at an urban community hospital. Methods: Patients with cancer were interviewed using an electronic application that depicted specific CAM therapies. Patients were questioned on their knowledge and utilization of therapies, deterrents to use, and interest in using these therapies if they were made available. Results: Patients (n = 165) reported a high awareness and use of CAM therapies. CAM use was highest for prayer (85%), relaxation (54%), special diet (29%), meditation (19%), and massage (18%). Patients’ interest in using CAM was high for nearly all therapies. Lack of adequate knowledge and cost of use were reported as deterrents to use. Female patients reported higher use of aromatherapy relative to males (37.1% vs 19.4%, P =.02); those with higher education reported greater use of relaxation (60.8% vs 28.6%, P =.02); non-Hispanics reported higher use of relaxation relative to Hispanics (63.5% vs 44.2%, P =.03), and African American patients reported higher use of relaxation relative to White patients (69.2% vs 50%, P =.03). Conclusions: CAM use in minority and medically underserved cancer patients is common, but not professionally guided; thus, concerns remain regarding its safe use. Our data underscore the importance of patient-physician dialogue regarding CAM use in this patient population, and interest in access to the medically guided integration of evidence-based CAM therapies.
KW - CAM
KW - alternative medicine
KW - cancer
KW - complementary medicine
KW - minority patients
KW - underserved patients
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U2 - 10.1177/1534735417735892
DO - 10.1177/1534735417735892
M3 - Article
C2 - 29025275
AN - SCOPUS:85047011185
SN - 1534-7354
VL - 17
SP - 371
EP - 379
JO - Integrative cancer therapies
JF - Integrative cancer therapies
IS - 2
ER -