Sullivan Aimee, Gilbar Peter, Curtain Colin
Toowoomba Hospital, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Toowoomba Hospital, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia Department of Medicine (Rural Clinical School), The University of Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
Integr Cancer Ther. 2015 Jul;14(4):350-8. doi: 10.1177/1534735415580679. Epub 2015 Apr 14.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the high prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in metropolitan cancer cohorts but few have been conducted in regional and remote populations. This study aimed to investigate the trends and regional variations in CAM use by cancer patients at a regional cancer care center in Toowoomba, South East Queensland, Australia.
All English-speaking adult cancer patients attending the regional cancer care center were invited to participate. Eligible patients were provided a self-administered questionnaire that was developed based on published surveys. Ethics approval was obtained.
Overall 142 patients completed the questionnaire and 68% were currently or had previously used at least one form of CAM. CAM users and nonusers did not differ significantly by region, age, gender, time since diagnosis, income, town size, treatment intent, or metastases. CAM users were more likely to have a higher level of education. Concurrent CAM use with conventional treatment was reported by approximately half of respondents. The most common reason for CAM use was "to improve general physical well-being." The most common sources of CAM information were family (31%) and friends (29%). Disclosure of CAM use to either the general practitioner or specialist was reported by 46% and 33% of patients, respectively. The most common reason for nondisclosure was "doctor never asked."
This study supports previous research that CAM use is as common in regional and remote areas as metropolitan areas. Nondisclosure of CAM use to health professionals was common. Future research needs to focus on strategies to improve communication between patients and health professionals about the use of CAM.
众多研究表明，在大城市癌症队列中补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用率很高，但针对地区和偏远人群的研究却很少。本研究旨在调查澳大利亚昆士兰州东南部图文巴地区癌症护理中心癌症患者使用CAM的趋势和地区差异。
邀请所有在该地区癌症护理中心就诊的会说英语的成年癌症患者参与。符合条件的患者会收到一份基于已发表调查制定的自填式问卷。研究获得了伦理批准。
共有142名患者完成了问卷，68%的患者目前或曾经使用过至少一种形式的CAM。CAM使用者和非使用者在地区、年龄、性别、确诊时间、收入、城镇规模、治疗意图或是否有转移方面没有显著差异。CAM使用者更有可能拥有较高的教育水平。约一半的受访者报告在接受传统治疗的同时使用CAM。使用CAM最常见的原因是“改善总体身体健康”。CAM信息最常见的来源是家人（31%）和朋友（29%）。分别有46%和33%的患者报告向全科医生或专科医生透露了使用CAM的情况。不透露的最常见原因是“医生从未询问过”。
本研究支持了先前的研究，即CAM在地区和偏远地区的使用与大城市地区一样普遍。向医疗专业人员隐瞒使用CAM的情况很常见。未来的研究需要关注改善患者与医疗专业人员之间关于CAM使用的沟通策略。
