Shafiq N, Gupta M, Kumari S, Pandhi P
Department of Pharmacology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2003 Jul;41(7):294-8. doi: 10.5414/cpp41294.
To study the prevalence and pattern of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with essential hypertension.
521 consecutive patients visiting the Hypertension Clinic at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, over a 6-month period were interviewed. Information was gathered on the patients' demographics, type(s) of CAM used, sequence of seeking CAM and conventional medicine, sources of recommendation, reasons for opting for CAM and areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction associated with the use of CAM. Patients were also asked if they had informed their doctor about CAM use.
It was observed that 63.9% of patients overall used CAM. Ayurveda was the most commonly used CAM (56.7%), followed by herbal medicines (14.4%). The most commonly cited reason by patients for using CAM was fear of adverse drug reactions of conventional medicines (59.0%). However, more than half of the patients eventually became dissatisfied using CAM. Only 5.4% of CAM users had informed their medical doctors about the use of CAM.
A significant proportion of patients receiving conventional treatment for hypertension also use CAM therapies. A better understanding of the pattern of CAM use amongst these patients will help dispel prevalent misconceptions concerning CAM and, at the same time, assist conventional practitioners to critically evaluate possible gaps or omissions in their own prescribing habits.
研究原发性高血压患者补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用 prevalence 及模式。
对印度昌迪加尔医学教育与研究研究生院高血压门诊连续就诊的521例患者进行了为期6个月的访谈。收集了患者的人口统计学信息、使用的CAM类型、寻求CAM和传统医学的顺序、推荐来源、选择CAM的原因以及与使用CAM相关的满意和不满意方面的信息。还询问了患者是否已告知医生其使用CAM的情况。
观察到总体上63.9%的患者使用CAM。阿育吠陀是最常用的CAM（56.7%），其次是草药（14.4%）。患者使用CAM最常提及的原因是担心传统药物的不良反应（59.0%）。然而，超过一半的患者最终对使用CAM感到不满意。只有5.4%的CAM使用者告知了他们的医生其使用CAM的情况。
接受高血压传统治疗的患者中有很大一部分也使用CAM疗法。更好地了解这些患者中CAM的使用模式将有助于消除关于CAM的普遍误解，同时帮助传统医生批判性地评估他们自己处方习惯中可能存在的差距或遗漏。
