Lee Myung-Suk, Lee Myeong Soo, Lim Hyun-Ja, Moon Sun-Rock
Department of Nursing, Mokpo Catholic University, Mokpo, Republic of Korea.
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2004 Mar;13(3):167-71. doi: 10.1002/pds.877.
This study was designed to measure the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among Korean diabetes mellitus (DM) patients.
A 23-question survey on DM was used and included questions on demographic information (7), clinical information (7) and the utilisation of CAM (9).
Of 223 respondents, 145 (65%) had taken CAM products, while 78 (35%) had not. At the suggestion of family members and relatives, 43.5% of the respondents started taking CAM products. A total of 57.9% of the users felt that it was effective, 30.3% considered that it regulated the blood glucose level and 27.6% felt it was effective in achieving psychological relaxation. Of 93 CAM materials used by respondents, 63.7% were various types of plants, 21.6% were animal material and 14.7% were a mixture of both. The majority of DM patients (81.2%) were trying a new type of CAM, and one third of all patients were trying to start using a new type of CAM after consulting with their physicians.
Doctors should recognise that complementary medicines are widely used by diabetic patients and should appreciate that these medicines can cause adverse effects. Doctors should therefore be prepared to question patients to determine what non-conventional medicines they are using.
本研究旨在测量韩国糖尿病患者使用补充和替代医学（CAM）的流行率。
采用一项关于糖尿病的包含23个问题的调查问卷，其中包括人口统计学信息（7个问题）、临床信息（7个问题）以及补充和替代医学的使用情况（9个问题）。
在223名受访者中，145名（65%）服用过补充和替代医学产品，而78名（35%）未服用过。在家庭成员和亲属的建议下，43.5%的受访者开始服用补充和替代医学产品。共有57.9%的使用者认为其有效，30.3%认为它能调节血糖水平，27.6%觉得它能有效实现心理放松。在受访者使用的93种补充和替代医学材料中，63.7%是各类植物，21.6%是动物材料，14.7%是两者的混合物。大多数糖尿病患者（81.2%）在尝试新型补充和替代医学，并且所有患者中有三分之一在咨询医生后试图开始使用新型补充和替代医学。
医生应认识到糖尿病患者广泛使用补充药物，并且应意识到这些药物可能会产生不良反应。因此，医生应准备好询问患者以确定他们正在使用哪些非常规药物。
