title: Reasons to Use and Disclose Use of Complementary Medicine Use - An Insight from Cancer Patients.
abstract: Studies have shown a high prevalence (40-83%) of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among cancer patients in the U.S.A cross-sectional, mixed-methods pilot study was completed. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis conducted on demographic predictors of complementary medicine (CM) use, reasons to use CM, and disclosure to healthcare provider data. Surveys were interview-administered at the Loma Linda University Medical Center Cancer Center. Participants, 18 years or older, were selected from a convenient sample. Eighty-seven percent (87.9%) of participants reported to have used CM as a cancer treatment and most reported to have used it "to help fight the cancer." Women were eight-times more likely to use prayer. All non-Caucasian and Hispanic participants reported to use CM as a cancer therapy and none reported to use a CM provider. More women (72%) disclosed their CM use than men (53.3%). Different prevalences and predictors exist when differentiating CM modalities, reasons to use CM vary by gender, and disclosure proportions vary by gender.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arthur
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Belliard
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Steven B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hardin
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knecht
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Chien-Shing
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montgomery
keywords: Complementary Medicine (CM); Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM); cancer therapies; disclosure of CAM