Terminally ill patients’ and their relatives’ experiences and behaviors regarding complementary and alternative medicine utilization in hospice palliative inpatient care units: a cross-sectional, multicenter survey

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies

Research

Fang-Pey Chen¹  Wen-Yuan Lin²  Jyh-Gang Hsieh³  Ying-Wei Wang³  Ru-Yih Chen⁴  Tai-Yuan Chiu⁵  Yi-Sheng Liou⁶  Chung-Chieh Hu⁶  Bo-Ren Cheng⁷  Hsiao-Ting Chang⁷  Tzeng-Ji Chen⁷  Ming-Hwai Lin⁷  Shinn-Jang Hwang⁸  Yu-Jia Lin⁹  Chun-Yi Tu^1,10  Ping-Jen Chen^1,11 

[1] Center for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;Institute of Traditional Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan;En Chu Kong Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taoyuan Branch, Taoyuan, Taiwan;Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;

关键词: Behavior;    Communication;    Complementary medicine;    Alternative medicine;    Experience;    Palliative care;    Terminally ill;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-023-03859-3

 received in 2022-05-09, accepted in 2023-01-24,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTerminally ill patients often experience exacerbations of diseases that render mainstream medicine ineffective in relieving symptoms, prompting attempts at complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study collected data from terminally ill patients and their relatives to determine differences between CAM use, behavioral patterns, and perceptions of health information about CAM.MethodsA cross-sectional design using a self-administered questionnaire was adopted. Eight medical institutions in Taiwan with inpatient hospice palliative care units were chosen. Ninety-two terminally ill patients and 267 relatives met the inclusion criteria. The questions concerned the experience of CAM use, the kinds of products/services CAM provided, the purpose of CAM use, the source of CAM information, and the perceptions and attitudes toward CAM.ResultsBoth terminally ill patients and their relatives have a high proportion of lifetime and one-year prevalence of CAM use (88.0% vs. 88.4%; p = 0.929). CAM use for musculoskeletal and neurological discomfort is higher among terminally ill patients than among their relatives. Relatives/friends are the most frequent sources of information on CAM (53.3% vs. 62.2%; p = 0.133). The percentage of terminally ill patients who discontinued mainstream medical treatment because of CAM use was higher than that of their relatives (18.5% vs. 9.3%; p = 0.026). More than half the terminally ill patients and their relatives had never been asked about CAM by medical staff (64.1% vs. 66.7%), nor had they informed medical professionals about the use of CAM products and services (63% vs. 66.9%). Random inquiries by medical professionals may be associated with increased disclosure of CAM use (terminally ill patients: odds ratio, 9.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.97–48.35 vs. relatives: odds ratio, 5.61; 95% confidence interval, 2.66–11.83).ConclusionsThe high prevalence and concealment of CAM use in terminally ill patients should be considered. Medical professionals should establish a friendly and barrier-free communication model, encourage patients to share CAM experiences, and provide evidence-based information on the use of CAM products and services, to reduce the potential damage caused by harmful use.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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