Radiotherapy and Oncology Unit, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Rajtawee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:670408. doi: 10.1155/2012/670408. Epub 2012 Feb 23.
Introduction. Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer patients is increasingly acceptable worldwide, but most of the studies were surveyed from developed countries. In this study, we evaluated the first and large cohort of cancer patients with CAM use in Thailand. Materials and Methods. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 248 cancer patients attending outpatient radiotherapy unit at Ramathibodi Hospital. Results. The prevalence of CAM use was 60.9%. The most frequently used CAM were dietary/vitamin supplements (56.9%). Independent predictors of CAM use were high income (P < 0.001) and cancer type (P = 0.019). About half of the patients (51%) reported positive effects from CAM use. Nevertheless, 9.4% of the patient also reported side effects. The majority of patients (58.3%) did not disclose their use of CAM to their doctors because they felt that it was not necessary for doctors to know (65.9%). The average spending for CAM use was 200 USD/month (range, 10-1,000). Conclusion. Although the cost for CAM is relatively expensive, the prevalence of CAM use in cancer patients in Thailand is high particularly, in patients with higher income. Therefore, all clinical oncologists should be concerned about the use of CAM during evaluation of the cancer patients.
简介。在癌症患者中使用补充和替代医学（CAM）在全球范围内越来越被接受，但大多数研究都是在发达国家进行的。在这项研究中，我们评估了泰国第一批也是最大的癌症患者使用 CAM 的情况。
材料与方法。248 名在 Ramathibodi 医院接受门诊放射治疗的癌症患者完成了一份自我管理的问卷。
结果。CAM 使用的流行率为 60.9%。最常使用的 CAM 是饮食/维生素补充剂（56.9%）。CAM 使用的独立预测因素是高收入（P < 0.001）和癌症类型（P = 0.019）。约一半的患者（51%）报告说 CAM 使用有积极影响。然而，9.4%的患者也报告了副作用。大多数患者（58.3%）没有向医生透露他们使用 CAM 的情况，因为他们觉得医生没有必要知道（65.9%）。CAM 使用的平均花费为 200 美元/月（范围为 10-1000 美元）。
结论。尽管 CAM 的费用相对较高，但泰国癌症患者中 CAM 的使用流行率很高，尤其是在收入较高的患者中。因此，所有临床肿瘤学家在评估癌症患者时都应该关注 CAM 的使用情况。
