Complementary and alternative medicine use amongst Turkish type 2 diabetic patients: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a worldwide tendency in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Type 2 diabetic patients’ attitude towards CAM use differs depending on several patient characteristics. ObjectiveTo determine the awareness, knowledge and the frequency of CAM use; to determine the independent demographic characteristics making it more probable to use CAM in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods400 patients with T2DM visiting outpatient diabetes education clinic in Turkey from September 2015 to June 2016 were included in this cross-sectional study. On the basis of patients’ responses to our questionnaire interrogating the CAM use, all participants were divided into 2 groups: CAM users and non-users. The independent predictors of CAM use were determined after a multivariate analysis including the parameters with a p value <0.25 in univariate analysis. ResultsIn our study the rate of CAM use was 36,7% (n = 147) and CAM use among female gender was significantly more frequent. HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, post-prandial blood glucose serum levels were significantly higher in CAM non-user group. (p < 0.001,p < 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively). The independent predictive factors proved to be a determinant of CAM use were the age of 50–64 years, female gender and healthy eating habits. ConclusionsThe use of CAM methods in the field of T2DM is growing. Our study reported the prevalence of CAM use, the baseline comparison of CAM users and non-users and demonstrated three independent notable predictors of CAM use among patients with T2DM.