UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2013 Aug;17(4):490-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2012.10.008. Epub 2012 Nov 20.
To investigate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among women with breast cancer in Ireland using a mixed methods modified sequential explanatory design.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with oncology professionals (n = 20) and CAM practitioners (n = 20) and this was followed by a survey of 406 women with breast cancer using the 'Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies Survey' questionnaire (UCATS) (Lengacher et al., 2003). Follow up interviews were subsequently undertaken with a subset of this survey sample (n = 31).
Over half of those surveyed (55.7%, n = 226) used some form of CAM since diagnosis. The most frequently used therapies were massage, herbal supplements (including herbs with oestrogenic properties), antioxidants, relaxation, counselling, health supplements, reflexology, reiki and support groups. Dietary interventions were used primarily to reduce symptoms and/or side effects while reduction of psychological stress was the primary reason for use of stress-reducing therapies. Most respondents reported that the CAM therapies they had used were helpful. The qualitative data elaborated on and provided clarification of the survey results.
Similar to international studies, CAM is popular among women with breast cancer in Ireland. As such, the challenge for Irish oncology professionals is to identify low risk CAM therapies that are likely to benefit patients while educating patients and themselves on therapies which may be of concern. This study clearly illustrates the benefits of using a mixed methods approach to enhance our understanding of a complex clinical issue and thus we recommend that this method should be the method of choice when planning health services research.
采用混合方法改良顺序解释设计，调查爱尔兰乳腺癌女性对补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用情况。
对 20 名肿瘤专业人员和 20 名 CAM 从业者进行半结构式访谈，随后对 406 名乳腺癌女性使用“补充和替代疗法使用调查”问卷（UCATS）（Lengacher 等人，2003 年）进行调查。随后对该调查样本的一部分（n=31）进行了随访访谈。
超过一半的受访者（55.7%，n=226）自诊断以来使用过某种形式的 CAM。最常使用的疗法是按摩、草药补充剂（包括具有雌激素特性的草药）、抗氧化剂、放松、咨询、保健品、反射疗法、灵气和支持小组。饮食干预主要用于减轻症状和/或副作用，而减轻心理压力是使用减压疗法的主要原因。大多数受访者表示，他们使用的 CAM 疗法对他们有帮助。定性数据详细阐述并澄清了调查结果。
与国际研究相似，CAM 在爱尔兰的乳腺癌女性中很受欢迎。因此，爱尔兰肿瘤专业人员面临的挑战是确定低风险的 CAM 疗法，这些疗法可能对患者有益，同时教育患者和他们自己可能存在问题的疗法。这项研究清楚地说明了采用混合方法来增强我们对复杂临床问题的理解的好处，因此我们建议在规划卫生服务研究时，应选择这种方法。
