Shaharudin Soraya Hanie, Sulaiman Suhaina, Emran Nor Aina, Shahril Mohd Razif, Hussain Sharifah Noor Akmal Syed
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Universiti Kebangsaan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Altern Ther Health Med. 2011 Jan-Feb;17(1):50-6.
A cross-sectional studywas carried out to determine the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by breast cancer survivors.
A descriptivesurveydesignwasdeveloped. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, cancer clinical treatment history, and use of CAM were obtained through a modified self-administered questionnaire from 116 Malay breast cancer survivors aged 21 to 67 years who were 2 years postdiagnosis and currently undergoing follow-up treatment at breast cancer clinics at Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre.
Data suggest that 64% of the participants were identified as CAM users; dietary supplements were the most common form used, followed by prayer and Malay traditional medicine. Within the wide range of dietary supplements, multivitamins were most often taken followed by spirulina, vitamin C, evening primrose oil, and herbal products. Contrary to other findings, the CAM users were found to be older, had secondary education levels, and were from middle-income households. However, there was no significant difference between CAM users and nonusers in this study. Family members played an important role as the main source of information along with doctors/health care providers, friends, and printed materials/mass media. The reasons participants gave for using CAM were mainly to assist in healing the body's inner strength, to cure cancer, and to reduce stress. Only half of the participants consulted with their physicians regarding the safety of CAM use. The participants began to use CAM while undergoing clinical treatments. Most of the participants used CAM for more than a year. About RM100 to RM149 (31.88 USD to 47.50 USD at press time) were spent monthly on CAM by 32% of the participants. The CAM use was found to be effective and beneficial for patients' disease states, and they were contented with the usage of the CAM therapies. Multivariate analysis revealed that thedecision to use or not to use CAM was not dependent on sociodemographic background or cancer clinical treatment history.
CAM was commonly used by breast cancer survivors as a coping mechanism to battle the disease.
开展了一项横断面研究，以确定乳腺癌幸存者使用补充和替代医学（CAM）的情况。
制定了一项描述性调查设计。通过一份经过修改的自填式问卷，从116名年龄在21至67岁之间、确诊后2年且目前在吉隆坡医院和马来西亚国民大学医学中心乳腺癌诊所接受后续治疗的马来族乳腺癌幸存者那里获取了社会人口学特征、癌症临床治疗史以及补充和替代医学使用情况等信息。
数据表明，64%的参与者被认定为补充和替代医学使用者；膳食补充剂是最常用的形式，其次是祈祷和马来传统医学。在种类繁多的膳食补充剂中，复合维生素服用最为频繁，其次是螺旋藻、维生素C、月见草油和草药产品。与其他研究结果相反，补充和替代医学使用者年龄较大，具有中学教育水平，且来自中等收入家庭。然而，在本研究中，补充和替代医学使用者与非使用者之间没有显著差异。家庭成员与医生/医疗服务提供者、朋友以及印刷材料/大众媒体一样，作为主要信息来源发挥着重要作用。参与者使用补充和替代医学的原因主要是帮助恢复身体的内在力量、治愈癌症以及减轻压力。只有一半的参与者就补充和替代医学使用的安全性咨询过医生。参与者在接受临床治疗期间开始使用补充和替代医学。大多数参与者使用补充和替代医学超过一年。32%的参与者每月在补充和替代医学上花费约100至149林吉特（截至发稿时为31.88美元至47.50美元）。发现补充和替代医学的使用对患者的病情有效且有益，并且他们对补充和替代医学疗法的使用感到满意。多变量分析显示，使用或不使用补充和替代医学的决定并不取决于社会人口学背景或癌症临床治疗史。
乳腺癌幸存者普遍使用补充和替代医学作为对抗疾病的应对机制。
