The Assessment of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Patients with Hematological Malignancies

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasingly used among oncology patients. In the literature, the studies on hematological malignancy (HM) patients’ use of CAM are scarce. We aimed to assess CAM use in a group of Turkish HM patients by a multi-parameter approach and determine the demographic and clinical factors associated with its use. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient clinics with 351 eligible patients. Two questionnaires, one of which assessed the attitudes of participants to CAM (HCAMQ), and the other detailed multiple aspects of CAM use, were applied. The frequency of CAM use was 70.1% and, among the most common CAM methods, were phytotherapy (65%), vitamin supplementation, and spiritual activity/prayer. The statistical analysis results showed that the rate of CAM use was significantly associated with lower ECOG performances (p:0.016) and lower HCAMQ scores (p<0.001). Using Ozone therapy was significantly associated with older age (p:0.042) and higher ECOG performance score (p:0.038) while hijama use was significantly more in the graduates of elementary school (p:0.033), and in the patients who did not undergo chemotherapy (p<0.001) and who had high-risk/malignant conditions (p<0.001). We found that apitherapy and leech therapy uses were significantly associated with high-risk/malignant conditions (p:0.011 and p:0.004, respectively). Social media was found as the primary source of information for phytotherapy (p:0.016), Nigella Sativa (p:0.007), and Gingko biloba (p:0.026) while TV/newspaper was so for Curcuma Longa (p:0.018). We found a high frequency of CAM use among HM patients, and we expect that our comprehensive research will contribute to the literature, and set an example for further and larger studies.