Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Jun 26;13:148. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-148.
Limited study on the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly in primary -care settings. This study seeks to understand the prevalence, types, expenditures, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of CAM use among patients with DM visiting outpatient primary care clinics.
This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 240 diabetic patients. CAM is defined as a group of diverse medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional Western medicine. Data analysis was done using SPSS v. 19 and multiple logistic regressions were used to identify predictors of CAM use.
The prevalence of CAM use was 62.5 percent. Female were 1.8 times more likely than male in using CAM. Malays (75%) were the most frequent users, followed Indians (18%) and Chinese (6%). Biological therapy (50.0%) were the most widely used, followed by manipulative-body based systems (9.2%), energy system (8.8%), alternative medicine systems (4.6%) and mind-body system (1.7%). In biological therapy, a total of 30.4 percent, 24.2 percent, 13.3 percent, and 7.9 percent of diabetic patients consumed bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia), followed by Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth), garlic (Allium Sativum), and Sabah snake grass (Clinacanthus Nutans Lindau) respectively. The mean of the expenditure on CAM usage was RM 52.8 ± 101.9 (US $16.9 ± 32.5) per month. According to multiple logistic regression analyses, being Muslim (OR 5.258, 95 percent CI 2.952-9.368) had significant positive association with CAM use.
The prevalence of CAM use was high among diabetics. Islam faith is predictor for CAM use among Type 2 DM patients. The most-common herbs used were bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia) and Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon Stamineus, Benth). Further studies on the anti-glycemic activity of the isolated compound may be needed in the future.
糖尿病患者（DM），尤其是在初级保健环境中，对补充替代医学（CAM）的使用进行了有限的研究。本研究旨在了解在门诊初级保健诊所就诊的 DM 患者中 CAM 的使用频率、类型、支出、态度、信念和看法。
这是一项针对 240 名糖尿病患者的描述性、横断面研究。CAM 被定义为一组多样化的医疗保健系统、实践和产品，它们通常不被认为是传统西方医学的一部分。使用 SPSS v.19 进行数据分析，并使用多元逻辑回归来确定 CAM 使用的预测因素。
CAM 使用的流行率为 62.5%。女性使用 CAM 的可能性是男性的 1.8 倍。马来人（75%）是最频繁的使用者，其次是印度人（18%）和中国人（6%）。生物治疗（50.0%）是最广泛使用的，其次是手法身体为基础的系统（9.2%）、能量系统（8.8%）、替代医学系统（4.6%）和身心系统（1.7%）。在生物治疗中，苦瓜（Momordica Charantia）、猫须草（Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth）、大蒜（Allium Sativum）和蛇舌草（Clinacanthus Nutans Lindau）分别有 30.4%、24.2%、13.3%和 7.9%的糖尿病患者食用，作为治疗 DM 的草药。CAM 使用率的平均支出为每月 52.8 ± 101.9 令吉（16.9 ± 32.5 美元）。根据多元逻辑回归分析，穆斯林（OR 5.258，95%CI 2.952-9.368）与 CAM 使用呈显著正相关。
DM 患者 CAM 的使用频率较高。2 型糖尿病患者的伊斯兰教信仰是 CAM 使用的预测因素。使用最常见的草药是苦瓜（Momordica Charantia）和猫须草（Orthosiphon Stamineus，Benth）。未来可能需要对分离化合物的降血糖活性进行进一步研究。
