Department of Anaesthesia and Surgical Intensive Care, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore 169608.
Ann Acad Med Singap. 2013 Mar;42(3):133-7.
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Singapore for a variety of conditions has been reported to be high. However in Asian chronic pain patients, there is no data on their use of CAM and its perceived benefits.
A cross-sectional survey of 210 patients was carried out in Pain Management Centre. Patients were interviewed directly on their use of CAM. The outcomes were prevalence of CAM use, the types of CAM used, the perceived efficacy and factors influencing its use.
The prevalence of CAM users in chronic pain is 84%. The most common class of CAM is traditional Chinese medicine (68%) the subset of which, acupuncture, was most frequently utilised (49% of patients using CAM). In univariate analyses, ethnicity was significantly linked to CAM use but not gender, age, education level and income (P = 0.027). Specifically for neck pain, it was significant that patients were more likely to see a chiropractor, to use massage, to take take vitamins and ginseng to alleviate their symptoms. With upper limb pain, it was the use of Tui na, massage and seeing a TCM practitioner. For abdominal pain, it was the use of herbal medicines. The majority felt that CAM helped with their pain (72%) although less expressed satisfaction with CAM (64%). Reasons for using CAM included: having more control over their pain; fewer side effects; safety and lower costs compared to conventional medicine.
The use of CAM in chronic pain patients is higher than the general population. Most felt that it improved their pain. As part of multimodal therapy, CAM may have a role in the management of chronic pain.
在新加坡，各种情况下使用补充和替代医学（CAM）的情况报告显示很高。然而，在亚洲慢性疼痛患者中，没有关于他们使用 CAM 及其感知益处的数据。
在疼痛管理中心对 210 名患者进行了横断面调查。直接对患者进行了 CAM 使用情况的访谈。结果是 CAM 使用的流行率、使用的 CAM 类型、感知的疗效以及影响其使用的因素。
慢性疼痛患者中 CAM 用户的患病率为 84%。最常见的 CAM 类别是中药（68%），其中针灸最常被使用（49%的患者使用 CAM）。在单变量分析中，种族与 CAM 使用显著相关，但与性别、年龄、教育水平和收入无关（P = 0.027）。具体来说，对于颈部疼痛，患者更有可能看脊椎按摩师、接受按摩、服用维生素和人参来缓解症状，这是有意义的。对于上肢疼痛，使用推拿、按摩和看中医是有意义的。对于腹痛，使用草药。大多数人认为 CAM 有助于缓解他们的疼痛（72%），尽管只有 64%的人对 CAM 表示满意。使用 CAM 的原因包括：对疼痛有更多的控制；更少的副作用；与传统药物相比更安全、成本更低。
慢性疼痛患者中 CAM 的使用高于一般人群。大多数人认为它改善了他们的疼痛。作为多模式治疗的一部分，CAM 在慢性疼痛管理中可能具有作用。
