Ibrahim Inas Rifaat, Hassali Mohamed Azmi, Saleem Fahad, Al Tukmagi Haydar F
Discipline of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2016 Oct-Dec;8(4):284-288. doi: 10.4103/0975-7406.199349.
The self-treatment with complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) in chronic diseases is portraying an expanding trend worldwide. Yet, little is known concerning patients' motives to use CAM in the control of blood pressure.
This study aims to explore the self-use of CAM in the management of hypertension and explore patients' attitudes, perceived benefits, and disclosure to the physician.
A qualitative technique was adopted and face-to-face interviews, using a validated interview guide, were carried out among twenty hypertensive patients. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit patients at Al-Karama Teaching Hospital in Baghdad; the capital of Iraq; from January to April 2015. All the interviews were audio-recorded, then transcribed verbatim and examined for thematic relationships.
Three major themes were identified through thematic content analysis of the interviews. These encompassed patients' understanding of CAM; experience and perceived benefits; and communication with the doctors. The use of CAM was prevalent among the majority of the respondents. The most commonly used therapies were biological-based practices (herbal remedies, special diet, vitamins, and dietary supplements); traditional therapies (Al-Hijama or cupping); and to a less extent of manipulative body-based therapies (reflexology). Factors influencing the use of CAM were traditions, social relationships, religious beliefs, low-cost therapy, and safety of natural products.
The use of CAM was common as a practice of self-treatment among hypertensive patients in Iraq. This was underpinned by the cultural effects, social relationships, religious beliefs, and the perception that natural products are effective and safe. Understanding patients' usage of CAM is of great importance as long as patient's safety and interaction with the standard prescribed treatment are major concerns.
在全球范围内，慢性病患者使用补充和替代医学（CAM）进行自我治疗的趋势正在扩大。然而，关于患者使用CAM控制血压的动机，我们知之甚少。
本研究旨在探讨高血压患者自我使用CAM的情况，并探究患者的态度、感知到的益处以及向医生的披露情况。
采用定性技术，使用经过验证的访谈指南，对20名高血压患者进行面对面访谈。采用目的抽样法，于2015年1月至4月在伊拉克首都巴格达的卡拉马教学医院招募患者。所有访谈均进行录音，然后逐字转录并检查主题关系。
通过对访谈进行主题内容分析，确定了三个主要主题。这些主题包括患者对CAM的理解；经验和感知到的益处；以及与医生的沟通。大多数受访者普遍使用CAM。最常用的疗法是基于生物的疗法（草药疗法、特殊饮食、维生素和膳食补充剂）；传统疗法（拔罐）；以及较少程度的基于身体的手法疗法（反射疗法）。影响CAM使用的因素包括传统、社会关系、宗教信仰、低成本疗法以及天然产品的安全性。
在伊拉克，CAM作为高血压患者自我治疗的一种方式很常见。这受到文化影响、社会关系、宗教信仰以及天然产品有效且安全这一认知的支持。只要患者安全以及与标准规定治疗的相互作用是主要关注点，了解患者对CAM的使用就非常重要。
