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Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Use by Patients Seen in Different Specialty Areas in a Tertiary-Care Centre

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate and compare the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by patients seen in five specialty areas of a tertiary-care centre.

Subjects and Methods: A total of 1514 patients presenting for consultation to five different specialty areas (general internal medicine, oncology, preoperative evaluation clinic, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and a spine centre) between September and December 2002 were invited to participate in a survey regarding their CAM use. The instrument used was an 85-question survey addressing different CAM domains.

Results: The overall response rate was 99.5%. CAM was used by 76% of patients (80% of women, 72% of men). The ten most frequently used types were vitamin E, exercise for a specific medical problem, vitamin C, chiropractic methods, spiritual healing (prayers), green tea, massage therapy, glucosamine, vitamin B complex and chondroitin. The number of types used differed among the specialty areas surveyed and was highest for patients seen in physical medicine and rehabilitation and in the spine centre and lowest for patients seen in oncology (p = 0.002).

Conclusions: CAM use was common in patients seen at a tertiary-care centre. The types used varied among the specialty areas surveyed. Physicians should be familiar with CAM use in their patients and advise them regarding its risks and benefits.

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Notes

  1. The use of trade names is for product identification purposes only and does not imply endorsement.

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Acknowledgements

Parts of this article were published as an abstract of the annual meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 30 April-3 May 2003. This article was also presented in part at the North American Spine Society annual meeting, San Diego, USA, 22 October 2003, and the abstract published in the proceedings of the North American Spine Society annual meeting (Spine 2003; 3 Suppl. 5: 77).

We acknowledge Abdul-Azeez Koletowo for his statistical support.

The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article. The authors have provided no information on sources of funding used to assist in the preparation of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, Minnesota, 55905, USA

    Dietlind L. Wahner-Roedler, Peter L. Elkin, Mark C. Lee, Ann Vincent, Laura L. Loehrer & Brent A. Bauer

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

    Ralph E. Gay

  3. Division of Biostatistics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

    V. Shane Pankratz

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  1. Dietlind L. Wahner-Roedler
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  2. Peter L. Elkin
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  4. Ann Vincent
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  8. Brent A. Bauer
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Wahner-Roedler, D.L., Elkin, P.L., Lee, M.C. et al. Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Evid-Based-Integrative-Med 1, 253–260 (2004). https://doi.org/10.2165/01197065-200401040-00005

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