Use of complementary and alternative medicine by a sample of Turkish primary headache patients.
OBJECTIVE
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasingly being used as adjunctive treatment in primary headache syndromes in many countries. In the Turkish population, no epidemiologic data have been reported about awareness and usage of these treatments in patients with headache.


METHODS
One hundred and ten primary headache patients attending three headache clinics completed a questionnaire regarding their headaches, the known modalities and the use and effect of CAM procedures for their headaches.


RESULTS
The mean age of the patients was 34.7±9.6 years (32.8-36.5). Almost two-thirds of patients had completed high school and university, and one-third of patients were housewives. Migraine without aura (45.5%) was the most frequently diagnosed type of headache followed by migraine with aura (19.1%) and tension-type headache (18.2%). In 43.6% of the patients, headache frequency was 5-10 per month. The most frequently known CAM modalities were massage (74.5%), acupuncture (44.5%), yoga (31.8%), exercise (28.2%), psychotherapy (25.5%), and rosemary (23.6%). The most frequently used CAM treatments were massage (51%) and exercise (11%). Only massage was reported to be beneficial in one-third of the primary headache patients; the other modalities were not.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the subgroup of primary headache patients in Turkey seek and use alternative treatments, frequently in combination with standard treatments. Neurologists should become more knowledgeable regarding CAM therapies; further randomized and controlled clinical researches with large sample sizes are needed.
Department of Neurology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana Training and Medical Research Center, Adana, Turkey. bkarakurum@hotmail.com.
Başak
B
Karakurum Göksel
Department of Neurology, The Ministry of Health Ankara Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Özlem
Ö
Coşkun
Department of Neurology, The Ministry of Health Ankara Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Serap
S
Ucler
Department of Neurology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana Training and Medical Research Center, Adana, Turkey.
Mehmet
M
Karatas
Department of Neurology, Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey.
Aynur
A
Ozge
Department of Public Health, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Secil
S
Ozkan
D000328:Adult; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014421:Turkey