Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among General Population in South India - A Cross-Sectional Study

Yamuna Devi M S (1) , Shanmugapriya S (2) , Kaavya S (3)
(1) Department of Pharmacology, Saveetha Medical College, Chennai – 602105, Tamil Nadu, India, India ,
(2) Department of Pharmacology, Saveetha Medical College, Chennai – 602105, Tamil Nadu, India, India ,
(3) Department of Pharmacology, Saveetha Medical College, Chennai – 602105, Tamil Nadu, India, India

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to a wide range of clinical therapies outside of conventional medicine used along with the physician prescribed drugs to complement the treatment. It is widely accepted and used across the globe. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of use of CAM among the general population and to determine the acceptability, extent and pattern of CAM use. This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was done among the general population in South India. 300 participants aged >18 years were included in the study irrespective of their genders. An interviewer-administered questionnaire with 20 questions was used to assess CAM usage. The statistical analysis was done by Chi-square test using SPSS version 25. The mean age was 50.39 (± 15.67) years. CAM usage was significantly influenced by age, educational qualification, occupation, geographical area and accessibility to a health care facility. The prevalence of CAM usage was found to be 62%. Homeopathy/Herbal medicine (34%) was the most commonly used CAM. About 35% had used CAM without the knowledge of their treating physician. More than 60% believe that CAM is safe with fewer side effects and around half of them had symptomatic relief following CAM usage. Our study results indicate the need for more studies testing various CAM modalities exploring their uses, adverse effects & interactions with other drugs, which in turn can guide the physicians in their treatment.

Full text article

Generated from XML file

References

Ali-Shtayeh, M. S., Jamous, R. M., Jamous, R. M. 2011. Herbal preparation use by patients suffering from cancer in Palestine. Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 17(4):235–240.

Barnes, P. M., Powell-Griner, E., Mcfann, K., Nahin, R. L. 2004. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States. Seminars in integrative medicine, 2(2):54–71.

Birdee, G. S., Yeh, G. 2010. Complementary and alternative medicine therapies for diabetes: a clinical review. Clinical Diabetes, 28(4):147–155.

Bodeker, G., Ong, C. K. 2005. WHO global atlas of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine. volume 1. World Health Organization. ISBN: 9241562862.

Ceylan, S., Azal, Ö., Taşlipinar, A., Türker, T., Açikel, C. H., Gulec, M. 2009. Complementary and alternative medicine use among Turkish diabetes patients. Complementary therapies in medicine, 17(2):78–83.

Chandrashekara, S. 2011. Complementary and alternative medicine in rheumatoid arthritis. Chinese journal of integrative medicine, 17(10):731–734.

Joseph, N., Talwar, C., Sikdar, I., Sengupta, M., Sayed, D. A., Mahajan, I. 2019. Experiences and Perceptions Toward Integrative, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine Among Conventional Medicine Practitioners of Mangalore, India. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, 42(7):492–502.

Kaushik, A. 2004. Protecting traditional knowledge, innovations and practices: the Indian experience. Protecting and promoting traditional knowledge: systems, national experiences and international dimensions, pages 85–90. United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

Khalaf, A. J., Whitford, D. L. 2010. The use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with diabetes mellitus in Bahrain: a cross-sectional study. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 10(1):1–5.

Kumar, D., Goel, N. K., Pandey, A. K., Sarpal, S. S. 2016. Complementary and alternative medicine use among cancer patients in Northern India. South Asian journal of cancer, 5(1):8–11.

Mathew, E., Muttappallymyalil, J., Sreedharan, J., John, L. J., John, J., Mehboob, M., Mathew, A. 2013. Self-reported use of complementary and alternative medicine among the health care consumers at a tertiary care center in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. Annals of medical and health sciences research, 3(2):215–219.

NCCIH 2020. Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s In a Name? National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Accessed on 20 September 2020.

Offit, P. A. 2012. Studying complementary and alternative therapies. JAMA, 307(17):1803–1804.

Omeish, A. F., Abbadi, W., Ghanma, I. M., Drabaa, Z., Botoosh, F. A., Seif, A., Massadeh, M. 2011. Hospital-based study on the use of herbal medicine in patients with coronary artery disease in Jordan. JPMA-Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 61(7):683–687.

Otoom, S. A., Al-Safi, S. A., Kerem, Z. K., Alkofahi, A. 2006. The use of medicinal herbs by diabetic Jordanian patients. Journal of herbal pharmacotherapy, 6(2):31–41.

Pearson, N. J., Chesney, M. A. 2007. The national center for complementary and alternative medicine. Academic Medicine, 82(10):967.

Rao, A. S. A., Phaneendra, D., Pavani, C. D., Soundararajan, P., Rani, N. V., Thennarasu, P., Kannan, G. 2016. Usage of complementary and alternative medicine among patients with chronic kidney disease on maintenance hemodialysis. Journal of pharmacy and bioallied sciences, 8(1):52–57.

Shannahoff-Khalsa, D. S. 2005. Patient perspectives: Kundalini yoga meditation techniques for psycho-oncology and as potential therapies for cancer. Integrative Cancer Therapies, 4(1):87–100.

Shmueli, A., Shuval, J. 2006. Complementary and alternative medicine: Beyond users and nonusers. Complementary therapies in medicine, 14(4):261–267.

Vishnu, N., Mini, G. K., Thankappan, K. R. 2017. Complementary and alternative medicine use by diabetes patients in Kerala, India. Global health, epidemiology and genomics, 2.

X Zhang and World Health Organization 2002. Traditional medicine strategy 2002 - 2005. VHL Regional Portal Information and Knowledge for Health.

Authors

Yamuna Devi M S
dr.yamuna14@gmail.com (Primary Contact)
Shanmugapriya S
Kaavya S
Yamuna Devi M S, Shanmugapriya S, & Kaavya S. (2021). Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among General Population in South India - A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 12(4), 2400–2405. Retrieved from https://ijrps.com/home/article/view/417

Article Details

No Related Submission Found