Department of Pediatrics, St Antonius Hospital, PO Box 2500, 3430 EM Nieuwegein, Netherlands.
Eur J Pediatr. 2013 Jan;172(1):31-7. doi: 10.1007/s00431-012-1821-6. Epub 2012 Sep 19.
Although complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used in the pediatric population, research on the use of these therapies in the pediatric oncology population is of mixed quality. In this multicenter survey, we investigated the prevalence of CAM use, possible determinants of use, and parental attitude towards communication and research on CAM therapies. The prevalence of CAM use in the past 12 months was assessed by using a questionnaire based on the European guidelines on CAM research, filled out by parents of children visiting pediatric oncology outpatient clinics of six academic hospitals in the Netherlands. The questionnaire consisted of 26 questions on the child's clinical status, CAM use, and attitude towards communication and research on CAM therapies. One hundred and twenty-two of 288 respondents (42.4 %) reported CAM use. The most frequently used categories were homeopathy (18.8 %) and dietary supplements (11.5 %). Female gender and parental CAM use were significant predictors for the use of CAM (p < 0.001). Only one third of the parents had discussed CAM use with their pediatric oncologist. More than 80 % of the respondents identified a need for information about CAM from their pediatrician and 85.7 % was positive towards research on CAM. Half of the parents were interested in participating in future CAM trials. Conclusion, with more than 40 % of parents of Dutch pediatric oncology patients providing complementary and alternative medicine to their child and with lacking evidence on efficacy and safety of most CAM modalities, there is a clear need for high-quality research in this field. This study shows that most parents have an open attitude towards CAM research and that almost half of the parents would consider participating in future CAM trials, paving the way for research on CAM and aiming for its evidence-based use in pediatric oncology.
尽管补充和替代医学（CAM）在儿科人群中广泛应用，但关于这些疗法在儿科肿瘤患者中的应用的研究质量参差不齐。在这项多中心调查中，我们调查了 CAM 使用的流行率、使用的可能决定因素以及父母对 CAM 治疗的沟通和研究的态度。通过使用基于欧洲 CAM 研究指南的问卷，对在荷兰六所学术医院的儿科肿瘤门诊就诊的儿童的父母进行了过去 12 个月 CAM 使用情况的调查。该问卷包含了 26 个关于儿童临床状况、CAM 使用情况以及对 CAM 治疗的沟通和研究态度的问题。在 288 位受访者中，有 122 位（42.4%）报告了 CAM 使用情况。最常使用的类别是顺势疗法（18.8%）和膳食补充剂（11.5%）。女性性别和父母 CAM 使用是 CAM 使用的显著预测因素（p<0.001）。只有三分之一的父母与儿科肿瘤医生讨论过 CAM 使用情况。超过 80%的受访者表示希望从儿科医生那里获得有关 CAM 的信息，85.7%的人对 CAM 研究持积极态度。一半的父母对参与未来的 CAM 试验感兴趣。结论，荷兰儿科肿瘤患者的家长中，超过 40%的人给孩子提供补充和替代医学，而大多数 CAM 方式的疗效和安全性缺乏证据，因此该领域迫切需要高质量的研究。这项研究表明，大多数父母对 CAM 研究持开放态度，近一半的父母愿意考虑参与未来的 CAM 试验，为 CAM 研究铺平了道路，并旨在将其在儿科肿瘤学中的应用建立在循证医学的基础上。
