title: Vaccination and complementary and alternative medicine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vaccinations in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are recommended to prevent infectious diseases. However, there are few reports of vaccination in IBD patients in Korea. The frequency of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is high despite its uncertain effectiveness. This study aimed to identify the rates of vaccination and use of CAM in patients with IBD.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 219 patients attended an education session for IBD patients held at Severance Hospital on March 23, 2013. We conducted a survey on vaccination and CAM use in IBD patients; 120 patients completed the questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The influenza vaccination rate was 44.2% and pneumococcal vaccination rate was 4.2%. Thirty-one (66%) patients were aware of the importance of vaccination. The vaccination rate was higher in patients who were aware of the importance of vaccination compared with that in patients who were unaware of the importance of vaccination (70.1% vs. 41.7%, P=0.004). The rate of CAM use was 30.0%. The most commonly used CAMs were oral products: vitamins (33.3%), red ginseng (25.0%), and probiotics (19.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness of the importance of vaccination and actual vaccination rates were low in IBD patients. Despite insufficient evidence on the effectiveness of CAMs in IBD patients, many patients used CAMs. We believe that repeated education and promotion of vaccination are important. Further large-scale studies to investigate the efficacy and safety of CAMs are warranted in patients with IBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Bae
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Ajou University College of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sook Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu Yeon
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Do Chang
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Pil
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Il
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Awareness; Complementary and alternative medicine; Inflammatory bowel disease; Vaccination