Quality of Life in CAM and Non-CAM Users among Breast Cancer Patients during Chemotherapy in Malaysia

Abstract

BackgroundComplementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has become increasingly popular among patients with cancer. The purposes of this study were to compare the QOL in CAM users and non-CAM users and to determine whether CAM use influences QOL among breast cancer patients during chemotherapy.MethodologyA cross-sectional survey was conducted at two outpatient chemotherapy centers. A total of 546 patients completed the questionnaires on CAM use. QOL was evaluated based on the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) core quality of life (QLQ-C30) and breast cancer-specific quality of life (QLQ-BR23) questionnaires.ResultsA total of 70.7% of patients were identified as CAM users. There was no significant difference in global health status scores and in all five subscales of the QLQ C30 functional scales between CAM users and non-CAM users. On the QLQ-C30 symptom scales, CAM users (44.96±3.89) had significantly (p = 0.01) higher mean scores for financial difficulties than non-CAM users (36.29±4.81). On the QLQ-BR23 functional scales, CAM users reported significantly higher mean scores for sexual enjoyment (6.01±12.84 vs. 4.64±12.76, p = 0.04) than non-CAM users. On the QLQ-BR23 symptom scales, CAM users reported higher systemic therapy side effects (41.34±2.01 vs. 37.22±2.48, p = 0.04) and breast symptoms (15.76±2.13 vs. 11.08±2.62, p = 0.02) than non-CAM users. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the use of CAM modality was not significantly associated with higher global health status scores (p = 0.71).ConclusionWhile the findings indicated that there was no significant difference between users and non-users of CAM in terms of QOL, CAM may be used by health professionals as a surrogate to monitor patients with higher systemic therapy side effects and breast symptoms. Furthermore, given that CAM users reported higher financial burdens (which may have contributed to increased distress), patients should be encouraged to discuss the potential benefits and/or disadvantages of using CAM with their healthcare providers.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine use and Its Association with Quality of Life Among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy in Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

“…Similar findings were also reported in studies done elsewhere [10,11]. Ethiopia is among one of the poorest countries in the world.…”

“…The findings of this study showed that there were no considerable differences between CAM consumers and non-CAM consumers in QoL. This finding corroborate a study conducted by Chui et al [10][11][12] that reported no considerable differences in QoL between CAM consumers and non-CAM consumers in Malaysia and Turkey, respectively. Similarly, a study done in Korea by Kang et al [34] and in Germany by Tautz et al [33] found out that the global QoL of breast cancer patients between CAM consumers and nonconsumers was not different.…”

“…In western countries, QoL evaluation has become more and more important as health care providers seek to understand the role health care interventions play in patients' lives rather than their physical outcomes [9]. In recent years, studies have been conducted on CAM use and QoL and most of the studies, despite variation in study methods and definition of CAM, reported no statistically significant differences in QoL between CAM consumers and nonconsumers [10][11][12]. However, some studies reported that CAM users have a lower overall QoL than non-CAM consumers [13,14].…”

The Evaluation of Complementary Health Approaches and Affecting Factors in Breast Cancer Patients with Ongoing Chemotherapy Treatment

“…Verilerin toplanmasında araştırmacılar tarafından literatür incelemesi sonrasında geliştirilen; (4,5,13,(15)(16)(17)(18) (1) Katılımcıların Sosyodemografik ve Hastalığa İlişkin Özelliklerine Ait Form, (2) Tamamlayıcı Sağlık Yaklaşımları Kullanımına İlişkin Form ve (3) İlaçlar Hakkında İnançlar Anketi kullanılmıştır.…”

“…Hastaların tamamlayıcı sağlık yaklaşımları kullanma durumları ile hangi tamamlayıcı sağlık yaklaşımları yöntemini kullandığı, kullanma nedeni ve kimin önerdiği sorgulanmıştır. (5,4,13,15,16,18) İlaçlar Hakkında İnançlar Anketi: Horne ve ark. (19) tarafından geliştirilen "İlaçlar Hakkında İnançlar Anketi" ile bireylerin kendilerine reçete edilen ilaçlar ve genel olarak ilaçlar hakkındaki kişisel görüşlerini ölçmek amaçlanmaktadır.…”