CONTEXT: The use of complementary/alternative medicine has been little studied in Brazil. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine use among a group of Brazilian cancer patients and correlate these findings with the patients' quality of life. TYPE OF STUDY: Descriptive. SETTING: Oncology Institute of the Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: 100 cancer patients. PROCEDURES: The EORTC QLQ C-30 quality of life questionnaire was applied together with another questionnaire on the use of complementary/alternative medicine. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Use of complementary/alternative medicine and quality of life. RESULTS: 89% of the patients had already used complementary/alternative medicine, 63% were currently using it and most of them (77.7%) believed in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine for their treatment. The type most used was individual prayer (77.5%). We found a significant association between believing in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine and praying (individually or in groups), in comparison with better scores on the functional (p = 0.001) and overall health (p = 0.001) quality of life scales. Multivariate analysis confirmed these findings regarding praying and also showed that believing in complementary/alternative medicine correlated significantly with functional and symptom quality of life scores. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine use in this group of cancer patients was high. Praying and belief in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine correlated significantly with an overall better quality of life, and therefore these practices should not be discouraged by physicians. New prospective studies should be conducted in order to better characterize the efficacy of such alternative therapeutic approaches.
CONTEXT: The use of complementary/alternative medicine has been little studied in Brazil. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine use among a group of Brazilian cancerpatients and correlate these findings with the patients' quality of life. TYPE OF STUDY: Descriptive. SETTING: Oncology Institute of the Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: 100 cancerpatients. PROCEDURES: The EORTC QLQ C-30 quality of life questionnaire was applied together with another questionnaire on the use of complementary/alternative medicine. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Use of complementary/alternative medicine and quality of life. RESULTS: 89% of the patients had already used complementary/alternative medicine, 63% were currently using it and most of them (77.7%) believed in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine for their treatment. The type most used was individual prayer (77.5%). We found a significant association between believing in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine and praying (individually or in groups), in comparison with better scores on the functional (p = 0.001) and overall health (p = 0.001) quality of life scales. Multivariate analysis confirmed these findings regarding praying and also showed that believing in complementary/alternative medicine correlated significantly with functional and symptom quality of life scores. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine use in this group of cancerpatients was high. Praying and belief in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine correlated significantly with an overall better quality of life, and therefore these practices should not be discouraged by physicians. New prospective studies should be conducted in order to better characterize the efficacy of such alternative therapeutic approaches.
Authors: Ana Camila Callado Alfano; Carlos Eduardo Paiva; Fernanda Capella Rugno; Raquel Haas da Silva; Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro Paiva Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2013-12-17 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Ana Claudia Garabeli Cavalli Kluthcovsky; Almir Antonio Urbanetz; Denise Siqueira de Carvalho; Eliane Mara Cesario Pereira Maluf; Geovana Cristina Schlickmann Sylvestre; Sergio Bruno Bonatto Hatschbach Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2011-10-13 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Milene N Abrão; Carolina G Bensi; Marina S Gonçalves; Juliana L Narahara; Fabiana C Otsuka; Rodrigo P Ranzatti; Damila C Trufelli; Rafael A Kaliks; Hélio Pinczowski; Paula P Lajolo; Auro Del Giglio Journal: J Cancer Educ Date: 2008 Jan-Mar Impact factor: 2.037