Reasons, Perceived Efficacy, and Factors Associated with Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Malaysian Patients with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

This study confirmed the range of 30%-100% CAM use among individuals infected with HIV/AIDS. Although, on the one hand some types of CAM reduced viral load and enhanced the immune system, on the other hand some forms of CAM produced a detrimental effect on the virological suppression, opening this platform to more research and investigation in order to optimize the use of CAM among patients with HIV/AIDS.

Beliefs and practices of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among HIV/AIDS patients: A qualitative exploration

“…Our findings revealed a strong belief in the possible role of CAM for HIV management, consistent with an earlier Malaysian study by Hasan et al reported 30%-100% use of CAM among PLWHA. [19] This substantial prevalence of CAM use among HIV population has also been reported elsewhere [15,29,[31][32][33][34][35], including the developed countries. [16] Remarkably, most participants believed in CAM use to complement conventional ARTs but not to replace it, and were of the opinion that the best time to use CAM is when ARTs are yet to be initiated.…”

“…However in an earlier Malaysian study vitamin and supplements, herbal remedies and massage therapies were reported as the most commonly used CAM therapies. [19] Similarly, in studies elsewhere vitamins/minerals, garlic, marijuana, herbal supplements, yoga, massage along with visits to the acupuncturist, nutritionist and psychotherapist were found to be the frequently used CAM among these groups of individuals. [39,40] Since a variety of traditional medications, approaches and processes are regarded as CAM, there is no explicit list of such modalities [26]; moreover CAM practices greatly depends upon peoples' beliefs, cultures and other psychosocial factors.…”

“…[26] It has been widely used among patients with chronic diseases [18,27,28], including HIV/AIDS. [19,29,30] This study investigated the beliefs and practices of CAM among Malaysian PLWHA. Our findings revealed a strong belief in the possible role of CAM for HIV management, consistent with an earlier Malaysian study by Hasan et al reported 30%-100% use of CAM among PLWHA.…”

“…[12,43] In addition, a high number of HIV individuals using various forms of CAM remained unreported to the healthcare providers and physician in particular. [19] This puts greater emphasis on healthcare providers to engage HIV patients in their discussion on treatment from various aspects including CAM use.…”

“…Although the use of CAM among Malaysian PLWHA is well-known [19], little is known about the beliefs and practices towards CAM use; a qualitative methodology was therefore adopted to further understand this issue as it can enable researchers to explore meanings, examine practices, identify barriers, and discover the reasons for the success or failure of interventions. [20] We adopted a phenomenological approach since it allows description and close analysis of lived experience to understand how meaning is created through embodied perception.…”