Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Chronically Ill Adolescents from 2 German Birth Cohorts.
BACKGROUND
Pediatric use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular in Europe, and utilization may be even more prevalent in chronically ill children/adolescents. This study's aim is to assess CAM use among adolescents with chronic conditions.


METHODS
Data on drug utilization (past 4 weeks) and consultation with CAM providers (past year) were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from 4,677 adolescents from the German GINIplus/LISAplus birth cohorts. All reported drugs were classified into therapeutic categories (conventional drugs, homeopathy, herbal drugs, etc.). Additionally, participants were asked to list any chronic diseases (that were parent-reported, physician-verified diagnoses such as allergies, atopic dermatitis, asthma, or other chronic diseases) that they had had over the previous 5 years.


RESULTS
Compared with the total sample, drug utilization in general (60.1% vs. 41.1%), homeopathy use (11.1% vs. 8.1%), and consultation with CAM providers (16.9% vs. 10.9%) was significantly more prevalent among chronically ill adolescents. However, chronically ill adolescents used relatively (proportion of the defined therapeutic category among all drugs used) more conventional drugs than healthy adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with healthy adolescents, CAM use is more prevalent among adolescents with chronic conditions. Nevertheless, CAM may predominantly be used as a complementary treatment option rather than substituting conventional drugs.
Department of International Health, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Salvatore
S
Italia
Irene
I
Brüske
Joachim
J
Heinrich
Dietrich
D
Berdel
Andrea
A
von Berg
Irina
I
Lehmann
Marie
M
Standl
Silke Britta
SB
Wolfenstetter
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005858:Germany; D006705:Homeopathy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data