Complementary alternative medicine use among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the primary care setting: a cross-sectional study in Malaysia

Abstract

BackgroundLimited study on the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly in primary -care settings. This study seeks to understand the prevalence, types, expenditures, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of CAM use among patients with DM visiting outpatient primary care clinics.MethodsThis is a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 240 diabetic patients. CAM is defined as a group of diverse medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional Western medicine. Data analysis was done using SPSS v. 19 and multiple logistic regressions were used to identify predictors of CAM use.ResultsThe prevalence of CAM use was 62.5 percent. Female were 1.8 times more likely than male in using CAM. Malays (75%) were the most frequent users, followed Indians (18%) and Chinese (6%). Biological therapy (50.0%) were the most widely used, followed by manipulative-body based systems (9.2%), energy system (8.8%), alternative medicine systems (4.6%) and mind-body system (1.7%). In biological therapy, a total of 30.4 percent, 24.2 percent, 13.3 percent, and 7.9 percent of diabetic patients consumed bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia), followed by Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth), garlic (Allium Sativum), and Sabah snake grass (Clinacanthus Nutans Lindau) respectively. The mean of the expenditure on CAM usage was RM 52.8 ± 101.9 (US $16.9 ± 32.5) per month. According to multiple logistic regression analyses, being Muslim (OR 5.258, 95 percent CI 2.952-9.368) had significant positive association with CAM use.ConclusionsThe prevalence of CAM use was high among diabetics. Islam faith is predictor for CAM use among Type 2 DM patients. The most-common herbs used were bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia) and Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon Stamineus, Benth). Further studies on the anti-glycemic activity of the isolated compound may be needed in the future.

Diabetes Mellituslu Hastaların Tamamlayıcı ve Alternatif Tedavileri Kullanma Durumları ve Diyabet Tutumları İle İlişkisi

“…Çalışmamıza katılan hastaların TAT kullanım oranlarının %48.1 olduğu belirlenmiştir Ülkemizde yapılan çalışma-larda, diyabetli hastalarda TAT kullanma oranları %18.5-70.5 (5,12,20,21); farklı ülkelerde yapılan çalışmalarda ise diyabetli hastalarda TAT kullanım oranları %38.1-63 arasında değişmektedir (22)(23)(24). TAT kullanım oranları arasındaki bu farklılığın, yaşanılan toplumun TAT'a iliş-kin değerlerinin, inançlarının, kültürel özelliklerinin ve TAT kapsamında düşündükleri uygulamaların farklı olmasından kaynaklandığı belirtilmektedir (5,22,23).…”

“…TAT kullanım oranları arasındaki bu farklılığın, yaşanılan toplumun TAT'a iliş-kin değerlerinin, inançlarının, kültürel özelliklerinin ve TAT kapsamında düşündükleri uygulamaların farklı olmasından kaynaklandığı belirtilmektedir (5,22,23). TAT kullanan hastaların büyük çoğunluğunun (%67,9) sadece bitkisel uygulamalar kullandıkları saptanmıştır.…”

Complementary and alternative medicine use among type 2 diabetes patients in a tertiary care hospital

“…Our results are in concurrence to the results of earlier studies. 10,13,15,16 In the present study, nearly 71% patients were from rural background who used CAM. People in rural areas mostly seek CAM because of their cultural and holistic beliefs and most of them have joint families which are more prone to be influenced by their near relatives.…”

Attitudes towards complementary alternative medicine among Malaysian adults

“…The second section was based on the use of CAM. Data on types of CAM were collected and categorized based on six types (Ching et al, 2013): herbal products, alternative medical system, energy, manipulative and body based systems, mind-body interventions and others. Reasons for using or not using CAM were identified based on previous studies (Koh et al, 2003).…”

“…This comes in view of the popular use of CAM among the local population. In Malaysia, CAM has been used widely among cancer (Farooqui et al, 2016), . asthmatic (Alshagga et al, 2011), hypertensive (Mahfudz and Chan, 2005) and diabetic (Ching et al, 2013) patients. Siti and colleagues reported that 69% of Malaysians used CAM in their lifetime (2009).…”