The use of traditional and complementary medicine by cancer patients in SSA: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND

The rate of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) use is increasing worldwide, including among cancer patients who are often willing to try alternate therapies. Despite T&CM popularity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), there are limited data on its use with conventional treatments.

AIM

This scoping review aims to describe the prevalence of use, reasons for use, most common types of T&CM used, patient satisfaction with T&CM and disclosure of T&CM use to physicians among cancer patients in SSA.

METHODS

A systematic literature search was conducted for articles published from 2013 to 2022 across four databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and EBSCOhost. A scoping review approach was used to map relevant literature. Forty-six articles were assessed based on their titles and abstracts. After full-text screening, 10 articles were included.

RESULTS

Average T&CM use was calculated to be 66.7%. Reasons for T&CM use included: to improve psychological well-being, boost the body's immunity and provide symptomatic relief. An average of 21.2% of T&CM users informed their physician. Nine articles addressed patient satisfaction with T&CM. An average of 39.1% of patients reported general T&CM satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

The use of T&CM is common among cancer patients. It is important for healthcare providers to expand their knowledge in order to counsel patients and avoid potential hazards when combining T&CM with conventional treatments.

CONTRIBUTION

These findings highlight commonly used T&CM and provide insight on the portion of cancer patients informing their doctors about T&CM use. This information will help understand the attitude cancer patients have towards T&CM.