Clinical Investigation
The Prevalence and Pattern of Complementary and Alternative Supplement Use in Individuals With Chronic Heart Failure

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cardfail.2005.06.427Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

There are few data on the prevalence and pattern of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) supplement use among people with chronic heart failure (CHF). The aim of this survey was to characterize the prevalence, pattern, and reasons for use of CAM supplements among those with CHF.

Methods and Results

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 2 groups: CHF patients who had participated in the Hawthorn Extract Randomized Blinded Chronic Heart Failure (HERB CHF) Trial, and CHF patients who attended the University of Michigan's CHF Outpatient Clinic. We received 252 surveys. One third of respondents had used a CAM supplement in the last 6 months. There were 24 different supplements used. Reasons for use included heart problems, anxiety, weight loss, and arthritis. No demographic or behavioral characteristic identified CAM supplement users, although a 50% lower use among HERB CHF participants approached statistical significance (P = .08).

Conclusion

One third of our CHF patients were taking CAM supplements, several of which may interact negatively with typical heart failure medications. CAM supplement use for weight loss may be underreported. Demographic and behavioral characteristics may not have identified people with CHF who were using CAM supplements.

Section snippets

Methods

Between January 2000 and February 2004, we conducted a survey designed to obtain information on CAM supplement use in adults with symptomatic CHF. Survey participants were drawn from 2 groups: (1) CHF patients who had previously participated or were enrolled in the HERB CHF Trial; and (2) all patients diagnosed with CHF who attended the University of Michigan's (UM) Chronic Heart Failure Outpatient Clinic between September 2003 and February 2004 but were not HERB CHF study participants. The

Results

We received a total of 315 surveys. Of these, 120 were from participants in the HERB CHF study and 195 from individuals at the CHF outpatient clinic. We were able to use 252 of the 315 surveys. All of the surveys from the HERB CHF study were usable, whereas 63 of the CHF clinic surveys were not usable. Forty-three of the CHF clinic surveys were returned blank and 20 were ineligible: 16 indicated participation in the HERB CHF study (and thus prior completion of the survey), 3 indicated that they

Conclusions

Our analysis suggests that one third of CHF patients at a Midwest Hospital use CAM supplements. We also found that individuals with heart failure use CAM supplements for reasons other than heart failure, although the majority of respondents (82%) who used CAM supplements were taking them for cardiac-related problems. CAM supplements were also used frequently for mental and emotional health issues. The estimates of CAM supplement use in this study are very similar to those observed by Ai et al,8

References (15)

  • A. Ponholzer et al.

    Frequent use of complementary medicine by prostate cancer patients

    Eur Urol

    (2003)
  • T. Schafer et al.

    Alternative medicine and allergies: life satisfaction, health locus of control and quality of life

    J Psychosom Res

    (2003)
  • D.M. Eisenberg et al.

    Unconventional medicine in the United States. Prevalence, costs, and patterns of use

    N Engl J Med

    (1993)
  • D.M. Eisenberg et al.

    Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990–1997: results of a follow-up national survey

    JAMA

    (1998)
  • J.A. Astin et al.

    Complementary and alternative medicine use among elderly persons: one-year analysis of a Blue Shield Medicare supplement

    J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci

    (2000)
  • D. Foster et al.

    Alternative medicine use in older Americans

    J Amer Geriatr Soc

    (2000)
  • N. Mashour et al.

    Herbal medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular disease: clinical considerations

    Arch Intern Med

    (1998)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (39)

  • Nonprescription medication use in patients with heart failure: Assessment methods, utilization patterns, and discrepancies with medical records

    2013, Journal of Cardiac Failure
    Citation Excerpt :

    Vitamins and minerals were used most frequently, followed by pain relievers. Commonly used OTC products among our participants were aspirin, acetaminophen, products for heartburn, cough and cold preparations, and antihistamines, coinciding with other reports.7,8,11,12 In another study querying mainly herbal supplements in patients with HF, 32.5% of respondents admitted to herbal product use, similarly to our finding of 34.8%.7

  • Faith and use of complementary and alternative medicine among heart attack patients in a secular society

    2012, Complementary Therapies in Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Considering that use of CAM may be related to both beneficial and harmful effects in combination with conventional treatments, further studies of CAM use among heart patients appear relevant. Heart patients may seek out CAM for a variety of reasons, e.g. strengthening cardiovascular and general health15–18,20,22 and improving emotional well-being.18,22 The available results suggest that most CAM users perceive a positive influence of their use on the cardiovascular condition.13,16,18

  • Predictors of Over-the-Counter Drug and Herbal Therapies Use in Elderly Patients With Heart Failure

    2009, Journal of Cardiac Failure
    Citation Excerpt :

    Paradoxically, use of herbal therapies may be on the decline. Compared with a 18.6% use in adults based on responses to a census bureau in-home survey conducted in 2002,3 a 32.5% use of complementary therapies during a 6-month period in patients with HF between 2000 and 20042 and a 21.3% use at a single-center HF clinic in Italy between 2004 and 2005,10 we reported a low use of only 11.5%. In the 32.5% prevalence statistic presented previously, vitamin C was used by 17% of respondents and was the most frequently used herbal therapy, whereas, in our study, it was reported as an OTC drug and not included in herbal therapy use prevalence.

View all citing articles on Scopus

Supported by NCCAM/NIH grant P50 HL 061202 01 to the University of Michigan Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Center. Research resources were also provided by the General Clinical Research Center of the University of Michigan (M01-RR00042).

Portions of this research were presented in abstract form at the Heart Failure Society of America, 8th Annual Scientific Session, September, 2004.

View full text