Factors associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicine in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the frequency of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to explore whether CAM was associated with patient-specific characteristics, parent-specific characteristics, and medical management factors.


METHODS
Parents of children with JIA completed questionnaires that addressed the use of CAM, adherence and perceived problems, parental distress, and coping with childhood illness. Clinical variables were abstracted from the patients' medical files.


RESULTS
One hundred-eighteen children with JIA, mean +/- SD age of 10.4 +/- 3.9 years and mean +/- SD disease duration of 4.5 +/- 3.5 years, participated in the study. Ever use of CAM was 33.9% and was higher in patients whose parents used CAM (odds ratio [OR] 5.1, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.4-19.5) and among those who considered themselves as "Canadian" as opposed to belonging to a specific ethnic group (OR 10. 7, 95% CI 1.2-99.8). Adherence to conventional treatment was high for both users and nonusers of CAM.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of CAM is common among patients with JIA. CAM use is not related to any decrease in adherence to conventional medical treatment.
Feldman
Debbie Ehrmann
DE
Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. debbie.feldman@umontreal.ca
Duffy
Ciaran
C
De Civita
Mirella
M
Malleson
Pete
P
Philibert
Lise
L
Gibbon
Michele
M
Ortiz-Alvarez
Oliva
O
Dobkin
Patricia L
PL
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires