People with multiple sclerosis in Denmark who use complementary and alternative medicine—Do subgroups of patients differ?

Skovgaard, Lasse; Nicolajsen, Peter Halkier; Pedersen, Elisabeth; Kant, Matthias; Fredrikson, Sten; Verhoef, Marja J.; Meyrowitsch, Dan Wolf

doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2013.03.004

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…The results of the present study support previous findings that have indicated a widespread use of CAM among people with MS as well as a high prevalence of non-specific and preventive treatment goals [11,16,17]. Previous CAM studies have indicated a high prevalence of female gender among MS CAM users [11].…”

Section: Comparison With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 82%

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Self-Care Activities among People with Multiple Sclerosis in Denmark: Use and User Characteristics

et al. 2017

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Background: People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) are known to use a wide range of medical and non-medical treatments. This study aims at investigating the use of self-care activities within this patient group. Material and Methods: The study follows a descriptive cross-sectional design based on an online survey among members of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Society's permanent respondent panel. Results: The results of the study indicate that the respondents carry out a wide variety of self-care activities. These activities comprise conventional activities as well as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)-based activities. The self-care activities are mainly kept up for non-specific and preventive purposes, with primarily personal or non-specific issues as the primary source of inspiration. Comparative analyses indicate that respondents with a low level of self-care more often are men, belong to the young age group and have a low level of education, a low level of self-assessed state of health, a low level of self-assessed quality of life (QoL), and an unknown subdiagnosis. Respondents with a high level of self-care are more often women and have a high level of self-assessed QoL. Conclusions: A wide variety of self-care activities are carried out by PwMS, comprising conventional as well as CAM-based activities. The purposes of such activities are manifold, but they are mainly of non-specific and preventive nature. Differences in background characteristics exist between groups of low and high levels of self-care.

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Section: Comparison With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Questions on self-assessed state of health and self-assessed QoL consisted of single Likert-scale responses as applied in the Danish National Health Survey [15]. Self-assessed state of health and QoL were divided into 3 categories: low (1-2), medium (3)(4)(5), and high (6-7) as explained in earlier studies about CAM use [10,11,16].…”

Section: Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Care Activities among People with Multiple Sclerosis in Denmark: Use and User Characteristics

et al. 2017

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“…Hence, the choice of research issue in this paper, as well as the selection of informants participating in the interview study, were based on the results of a preceding survey [10,11,18]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of bodily sensations as a risk assessment tool: exploring people with Multiple Sclerosis’ views on risks of negative interactions between herbal medicine and conventional drug therapies

Skovgaard

Pedersen

Verhoef

2014

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundMost users of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) combine it with conventional medicine. Recent risk assessment studies have shown risks of negative interactions between CAM and conventional medicine, particularly when combining herbal medicine and conventional drug therapies (CDT). Little is known about the way users consider such risks. The present paper aims to gain knowledge about this issue by exploring views on risks of negative interactions when combining herbal medicine and CDT among people with multiple sclerosis (MS).MethodsThis paper draws on a qualitative follow-up study on a survey among members of the Danish MS Society. Semi-structured, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with a strategic selection from the survey respondents. The study was inspired by a phenomenological approach and emerging themes were extracted from the data through meaning condensation.ResultsFour themes characterized the informants’ views on risks of negative interactions when combining herbal medicine and CDT: 1) ‘naturalness’ in herbal medicine; 2) ‘bodily sensations’ as guidelines; 3) trust in the CAM practitioner; 4) lack of dialogue with medical doctor.ConclusionsGenerally, the combination of herbal medicine and CDT was considered by the informants to be safe. In particular, they emphasized the ‘non-chemical’ nature of herbal medicine and of their own bodily sensations as warrants of safety. A trustful relation to the CAM practitioner furthermore made some of them feel safe in their use of herbal medicine and CDT in combination. The informants’ use of bodily sensations as a non-discursive risk assessment may be a relevant element in understanding these issues.

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“…Results from the survey (N = 1865) showed that 51.8% of the respondents (n = 967) had used CAM within the past 12 months, and that 9.7% of the CAM users (n = 94) had used no conventional treatments during that period (besides DMDs). 23 Among these 9.7%, a minor proportion (n = 24) had also chosen to forgo DMDs for MS. 24 Of these 24 survey respondents, 7 did not respond to the invitation to participate in an interview study and could not be contacted owing to rules regarding data privacy. Interviews were therefore conducted with 17 participants.…”

Section: Chemical Substances In Conventional Medicine: "I Am Suspiciomentioning

confidence: 99%

Exclusive Use of Alternative Medicine as a Positive Choice

Skovgaard¹,

Pedersen²,

Verhoef³

2014

International Journal of MS Care

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People with multiple sclerosis in Denmark who use complementary and alternative medicine—Do subgroups of patients differ?

Cited by 6 publications

References 52 publications

Self-Care Activities among People with Multiple Sclerosis in Denmark: Use and User Characteristics

Self-Care Activities among People with Multiple Sclerosis in Denmark: Use and User Characteristics

Use of bodily sensations as a risk assessment tool: exploring people with Multiple Sclerosis’ views on risks of negative interactions between herbal medicine and conventional drug therapies

Exclusive Use of Alternative Medicine as a Positive Choice

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