CAMELOT Project, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University , Caulfield, East Victoria, Australia .
J Altern Complement Med. 2013 Nov;19(11):882-90. doi: 10.1089/acm.2012.0617. Epub 2013 Jun 21.
To explore perceptions of health and illness, and the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), among people with type 2 diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease (CVD), and relate these to quality of life.
A self-administered survey was delivered by mail and internet. The questionnaire was designed from data generated from qualitative research and other sources, to collect information on health-status, CAM use, and health and illness perceptions. Quality of life was compared among participants using Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-4D).
Adults with type 2 diabetes and/or CVD residing in Victoria, Australia, whether or not they used CAM therapies as well as conventional medical treatment.
Comparisons were made of AQoL-4D utility scores, demographic, health and wellbeing status, care-seeking and health management behaviors, and behavioral and illness perception variables. A range of descriptive statistical and predictive modeling techniques were used to assess significant associations (p<0.01) between CAM-user and non-user populations.
From a sample of 2766 people, 45.1% had used CAM in the past 12 months and the remainder had never used CAM; ages ranged from 20-96 years. CAM-users tended to report lower (worse) quality of life measures than non-users, and a greater number of chronic conditions in addition to diabetes and CVD. Despite this, CAM-users reported their illness perception and behavioral change more positively than non-users. There was little difference between CAM and non-users in use of prescription medications despite CAM-users greater disease burden.
Higher CAM use and low quality of life appear to reflect comorbidity and poor general health. Greater evidence is needed of how CAM use might support chronic illness prevention and complement chronic disease management, with important policy implications concerning the integration of CAM therapies with mainstream health services.
探讨 2 型糖尿病和/或心血管疾病（CVD）患者对健康和疾病的认知，以及他们对补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用，并将这些认知和使用与生活质量联系起来。
通过邮件和互联网进行了自我管理的调查。该问卷是根据定性研究和其他来源生成的数据设计的，用于收集健康状况、CAM 使用以及健康和疾病认知方面的信息。使用生活质量评估量表（AQoL-4D）比较参与者的生活质量。
居住在澳大利亚维多利亚州的 2 型糖尿病和/或 CVD 成人，无论他们是否使用 CAM 疗法以及常规医疗。
比较了 AQoL-4D 效用评分、人口统计学、健康和福利状况、寻求护理和健康管理行为以及行为和疾病认知变量。使用了一系列描述性统计和预测建模技术来评估 CAM 用户和非用户人群之间的显著关联（p<0.01）。
更高的 CAM 使用和较低的生活质量似乎反映了合并症和整体健康状况不佳。需要更多的证据来证明 CAM 的使用如何支持慢性病预防，并补充慢性病管理，这对将 CAM 疗法与主流卫生服务整合有关键的政策意义。
