Complementary and Integrative Health Practices Among Hispanics Diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer: Utilization and Communication with Physicians.

David S Black,Chun Nok Lam,Ugonna Ihenacho,Nathalie T Nguyen,Jane C Figueiredo

doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0332

Abstract

Objective: Complementary and integrative health (CIH) use among Hispanic adults with colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis is not well documented. Understanding the prevalence and patterns of CIH use among Hispanics offers insights to uncover potential needs for clinical services.Design: Participants were age 21 years or older with a first-time diagnosis of CRC from population-based cancer registries in California. In-person and/or telephone-based interviews were administered to collect data on CIH use. Demographic and clinical diagnosis data were abstracted from medical records. Descriptive statistical and logistic regression was used to analyze the frequencies and associations between selected patient characteristics and CIH use.Results: Among 631 Hispanic patients, 40.1% reported ever using CIH. Herbal products/dietary supplements were used most often (35.3%), followed by bodywork (16.5%), mind–body practices (7.8%), and homeopathy (6.7%). About 60% of participants reported CIH use to address specific health conditions; however, most patients did not discuss CIH use with their physicians (76.3%). Women reported higher CIH use than did men (45.1% versus 35.9%; odds ratio, 1.49 [95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.08]; p = 0.02). CIH use did not differ by clinical stage, time since diagnosis, or preferred language.Conclusions: CIH use is prevalent among Hispanic patients with CRC, especially women. Little communication about CIH use occurs between participants and their healthcare providers. Efforts aimed at improving integrative oncology services provide an opportunity to address such gaps in healthcare service.

Highlights

Complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches refer to the array of products and techniques that are used by the public outside of or alongside conventional Western medicine
To better understand the prevalence and patterns of CIH use among Hispanic patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) living in the United States, this large population-based study in California sought to describe the CIH products and techniques used by Hispanic adults
To better understand the prevalence and patterns of CIH use among Hispanic patients with CRC living in the United States, this study assessed the CIH products and techniques used by Hispanic adults in a large population-based study in California

Summary

Introduction

Complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches refer to the array of products and techniques that are used by the public outside of or alongside conventional Western medicine. According to the most recent report of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 34% of adults in the United States use CIH practices.[1] Overall, this rate of use has remained stable over the past decade, while some CIH mind–body practices, such as meditation and yoga, have almost doubled. Several mind–body CIH approaches have an emerging evidence base suggesting their utility for ameliorating health ailments,[5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] and some natural products have shown promise;[13,14,15,16,17,18] methodologic and conceptual limitations do prevail in various research domains of CIH,[18,19] and null findings are noted for some products.[20,21]

Methods

Results

Conclusion