A survey of complementary and alternative medicines use in out-patient paediatric specialities and pediatric emergency department

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is defined as a general term which can be used to represent a group of diverse medical modalities, practices, and products. This study was intended to measure the prevalence of CAM use in out-patient pediatric specialties and pediatric emergency medicine department at a tertiary hospital in Oman and explore types of CAM use. All patients attending the out-patient and emergency departments at Royal hospital were asked to participate in the study. 158 patients/guardians were interviewed. 36.6% of the patients used olive oil as CAM. Hence it was considered as the most common of all CAM used. The results showed that 63.3% of the patients used CAM for treatment/ symptom relief as a reason for CAM use.