title: [Use of complementary and alternative medicine by cancer patients: systematic review].
abstract: Interest in complementary and alternative medicine has increased, especially among oncology patients. A systematic literature review of the profile of patients who choose to use this type of medicine, as well as their motivations, was carried out on the PubMed database. For this search, the key words used were ?cancer and complementary alternative medicine? and ?oncology and complementary alternative medicine?, covering the period between 1995 and 2005. The selection criteria were the following: key words were present in the article title; article was written in either English, Portuguese, or Spanish; and study was performed with an adult population. From the 43 articles analyzed, it could be concluded that the use of complementary and alternative medicine is part of these patients? social scope. Moreover, its use plays an important role in the identity construction of cancer patients, helping them to make decisions related to conventional treatment.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brasil. cris.spadacio@gmail.com
authors.forename: Cristiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spadacio
authors.forename: Nelson Filice de
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Barros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors