Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway, National University of Ireland.
BMC Cancer. 2011 May 24;11:196. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-196.
We aimed to investigate the prevalence and predictors of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use among cancer patients and non-cancer volunteers, and to assess the knowledge of and attitudes toward CAM use in oncology among health care professionals.
This is a cross-sectional questionnaire survey conducted in a single institution in Ireland. Survey was performed in outpatient and inpatient settings involving cancer patients and non-cancer volunteers. Clinicians and allied health care professionals were asked to complete a different questionnaire.
In 676 participants including 219 cancer patients; 301 non-cancer volunteers and 156 health care professionals, the overall prevalence of CAM use was 32.5% (29.1%, 30.9% and 39.7% respectively in the three study cohorts). Female gender (p < 0.001), younger age (p = 0.004), higher educational background (p < 0.001), higher annual household income (p = 0.001), private health insurance (p = 0.001) and non-Christian (p < 0.001) were factors associated with more likely CAM use. Multivariate analysis identified female gender (p < 0.001), non-Christian (p = 0.001) and private health insurance (p = 0.015) as independent predictors of CAM use. Most health care professionals thought they did not have adequate knowledge (58.8%) nor were up to date with the best evidence (79.2%) on CAM use in oncology. Health care professionals who used CAM were more likely to recommend it to patients (p < 0.001).
This study demonstrates a similarly high prevalence of CAM use among oncology health care professionals, cancer and non cancer patients. Patients are more likely to disclose CAM usage if they are specifically asked. Health care professionals are interested to learn more about various CAM therapies and have poor evidence-based knowledge on specific oncology treatments. There is a need for further training to meet to the escalation of CAM use among patients and to raise awareness of potential benefits and risks associated with these therapies.
我们旨在调查癌症患者和非癌症志愿者中补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用情况及其预测因素，并评估肿瘤学中医疗保健专业人员对 CAM 使用的了解和态度。
这是在爱尔兰的一家单一机构进行的横断面问卷调查。调查在门诊和住院环境中进行，涉及癌症患者和非癌症志愿者。临床医生和辅助医疗保健专业人员被要求填写不同的问卷。
在 676 名参与者中，包括 219 名癌症患者；301 名非癌症志愿者和 156 名医疗保健专业人员，CAM 使用的总体流行率为 32.5%（三个研究队列中的分别为 29.1%、30.9%和 39.7%）。女性（p < 0.001）、年龄较小（p = 0.004）、较高的教育背景（p < 0.001）、较高的家庭年收入（p = 0.001）、私人医疗保险（p = 0.001）和非基督教徒（p < 0.001）是 CAM 使用可能性更大的相关因素。多变量分析确定女性（p < 0.001）、非基督教徒（p = 0.001）和私人医疗保险（p = 0.015）是 CAM 使用的独立预测因素。大多数医疗保健专业人员认为他们没有足够的知识（58.8%），也没有跟上关于肿瘤学中 CAM 使用的最佳证据（79.2%）。使用过 CAM 的医疗保健专业人员更有可能向患者推荐（p < 0.001）。
本研究表明，肿瘤学医疗保健专业人员、癌症患者和非癌症患者中 CAM 使用的流行率相似较高。如果专门询问，患者更有可能透露他们使用 CAM。医疗保健专业人员有兴趣了解更多各种 CAM 疗法，并且对特定的肿瘤学治疗方法缺乏基于证据的知识。需要进一步的培训来满足患者中 CAM 使用的增加，并提高对这些疗法相关潜在益处和风险的认识。
