Spigelblatt L, Laîné-Ammara G, Pless I B, Guyver A
Department of Pediatrics, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Pediatrics. 1994 Dec;94(6 Pt 1):811-4.
Alternative medicine (AM) is of growing interest to the general public. Although several studies have been published concerning its use in adults, the use by children is less well known. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency with which alternative medicine is employed in a pediatric population that also uses conventional medicine. A second goal is to investigate the sociodemographic factors that influence the choice of these forms of therapy.
Parents of children consulting the general outpatient clinic of a university hospital completed a self-administered questionnaire asking about previous use of AM for themselves or their children.
Based on 1911 completed questionnaires, 208 children (11%) previously consulted one or more AM practitioners. Chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy, and acupuncture together accounted for 84% of use. Children who used AM differed significantly from those who only used conventional medicine in that they were older than the nonusers, their mothers were better educated, and their parents also tended to use AM.
The findings indicate that AM is an aspect of child health care that no longer can be ignored. Being aware of these practices will enable physicians to discuss alternative therapies with parents in order to ensure the continuity of essential conventional treatments.
替代医学（AM）越来越受到公众的关注。尽管已经发表了几项关于其在成人中使用情况的研究，但儿童使用替代医学的情况却鲜为人知。本研究的目的是确定在同时使用传统医学的儿科人群中使用替代医学的频率。第二个目标是调查影响这些治疗方式选择的社会人口学因素。
在大学医院普通门诊就诊的儿童的家长完成了一份自填式问卷，询问他们自己或孩子以前使用替代医学的情况。
基于1911份完整的问卷，208名儿童（11%）以前曾咨询过一名或多名替代医学从业者。整脊疗法、顺势疗法、自然疗法和针灸加起来占使用情况的84%。使用替代医学的儿童与仅使用传统医学的儿童有显著差异，前者年龄比未使用者大，其母亲受教育程度更高，而且他们的父母也倾向于使用替代医学。
研究结果表明，替代医学是儿童医疗保健中一个不容忽视的方面。了解这些做法将使医生能够与家长讨论替代疗法，以确保基本传统治疗的连续性。
