Complementary and alternative medicine use among colorectal cancer patients in Alberta, Canada.
BACKGROUND
No population-based data are available on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) specifically among colorectal cancer patients.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence and determinants of CAM use among colorectal cancer patients in Alberta, Canada.


METHODS
Population-based questionnaire.


METHODS
Patients (871 of 1240 surveyed), or their close relatives or friends, who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 1993 or 1995 in Alberta, Canada.


METHODS
Demographics, lifestyle, health status, symptoms and coping mechanisms, and attitudes about cancer cause, conventional treatments and practitioners, and CAM and practitioners.


RESULTS
Seventy percent (871) of 1240 participants completed the questionnaire, and 49% used CAM. The most frequently used CAM therapies among users were psychological and spiritual therapies (65%), vitamins and minerals (46%), and herbs (42%). Sixty-eight percent of CAM users informed their medical doctors, and 69% used CAM after conventional care. Logistic regression suggested the strongest predictors of CAM use to be vegetarian diet, aged less than 50 years, female, having therapy options other than conventional treatment recommended by conventional doctors, experiencing changes in bowel habits orfatigue before diagnosis, and recommendation of chemotherapy. Nonsurviving patients were more likely to have used CAM than were survivors.


CONCLUSIONS
Cancer patients are using CAM and communicating usage to physicians. This finding suggests that physicians should be prepared to discuss CAM with patients, and evidence-based information about CAM should be sought, including where CAM may pose risks. This study serves as a baseline for studies on the efficacy and safety of CAM.
Tough
Suzanne C
SC
Department of Pediatrics and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Johnston
David W
DW
Verhoef
Marja J
MJ
Arthur
Keith
K
Bryant
Heather
H
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires