Complementary and alternative medicine provider use and expenditures by cancer treatment phase.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers and the associated expenditures by specific treatment phases among patients with cancer.


METHODS
Cross-sectional analysis of medical services utilization and expenditures during the 3 therapeutic phases of initial, continuing, and end-of-life life treatment.


METHODS
Analysis of an insurance claims database that had been matched to the Washington State Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry.


RESULTS
Of 2900 registry-matched patients, 63.2% were female, the median age was 54 years, and 92.7% were of white race/ethnicity. Breast cancer was the most frequent diagnosis (52.7%), followed by prostate cancer (24.7%), lung cancer (10.1%), colon cancer (7.0%), and hematologic malignancies (5.6%). Patients using CAM providers represented 26.5%. The proportion of patients using CAM was similar during each treatment phase. All patients used some conventional care. Age, female sex, breast cancer diagnosis, and white race/ethnicity were significant predictors of CAM use. Diagnosis of a musculoskeletal problem occurred at some time during the study for 72.1% of patients. CAM provider visits represented 7.2% of total outpatient medical visits, and 85.1% of CAM visits resulted in a musculoskeletal diagnosis. Expenditures for CAM providers were 0.3%, 1.0%, and 0.1% of all expenditures during the initial, continuing, and end-of-life phases, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
For patients with cancer, musculoskeletal issues were the most commonly listed diagnosis made by a CAM provider. Although expenditures associated with CAM are a small proportion of the total, additional studies are necessary to determine the importance that patients place on access to these services.
Lafferty
William E
WE
Department of Health Services, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Box 357660, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. billlaf@u.washington.edu
Tyree
Patrick T
PT
Devlin
Sean M
SM
Andersen
M Robyn
MR
Diehr
Paula K
PK
D000328:Adult; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*