The use of complementary and alternative medicine in children admitted to Angau Memorial Hospital, Lae, Papua New Guinea.

There is considerable overlap between traditional medicine (TM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Although the use of CAM, often regarded as TM, is recognized to be widespread in Papua New Guinea (PNG) there are few if any studies of its use in children. This study assessed the use of CAM in 300 children admitted to the children's wards of Angau Memorial Hospital between April and July in 2010 and the same time period in 2011. 54% of the children had been treated with some form of CAM. The use of CAM did not appear to depend on socioeconomic indices. Children with chronic illness were twice as likely to have received CAM as those with acute illness. 116 (72% of the 161 children who had received CAM and 39% of the total sample) had received alternative medicine prior to commencing conventional treatment. Of these, 72 (62%) used plant-derived medication, 29 (25%) sought spiritual/religious help, 12 (10%) admitted to having accessed the help of sorcerers and 3 had used minerals. 43 (37%) were using some form of CAM whilst in hospital. The commonest reasons for using alternative medicine were previous use with perceived good effect (50, 43%), belief that it was a cure for the disease or symptom (28, 24%) and belief that the disease was due to a nonmedical or spiritual cause (14, 12%). Belief in spiritual or nonmedical causation of illness was strongly associated with delay in accessing conventional treatment. When CAM was used only in the outpatient setting plant-based treatment was more commonly used than mind-body medicine, whereas mind-body medicine--mainly religious activity--was used more commonly in the inpatient setting. CAM was given to 12 of the 35 outpatient user only group because of a perception that conventional treatment was not working whilst 13 carers gave it to assist in healing. The large majority of CAM treatments were free but in two cases (one the use of purported electromagnetic field with Biodisc and one religious activity) the cost had been more than 100 kina. The study demonstrates that the use of CAM for the treatment of childhood illness is common in PNG. Whilst most forms of CAM were in themselves not harmful, potential for harm exists, particularly when its use results in significant delay in accessing conventional treatment.