title: Complementary and alternative medicine use in infertility: cultural and religious influences in a multicultural Canadian setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for infertility in a multicultural healthcare setting and to compare Western and non-Western infertility patients' reasons for using CAM and the meanings they attribute to CAM use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative semi-structured interviews using thematic analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two infertility clinics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  An ethnoculturally varied sample of 32 heterosexual infertile couples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CAM used included lifestyle changes (e.g., changing diet, exercise), alternative medicine (e.g., acupuncture, herbal medicines), and religious methods (e.g., prayers, religious talismans). Patients expressed three attitudes toward CAM: desperate hope, casual optimism, and amused skepticism. PARTICIPANTS' CAM use was consistent with cultural traditions of health and fertility: Westerners relied primarily on biomedicine and used CAM mainly for relaxation, whereas non-Westerners' CAM use was often influenced by culture-specific knowledge of health, illness and fertility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding patients' CAM use may help clinicians provide culturally sensitive, patient-centered care.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec, Canada .
authors.forename: Suzanne C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: Marie-Eve
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Carrier
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Whitley
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Togas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tulandi
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zelkowitz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D003469:Culture; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011792:Quebec; D012063:Relaxation; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires