IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i3p1600-d738868.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Hospitalized Cancer Patients—Study from Silesia, Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Karolina Kasprzycka

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Marta Kurzawa

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Malgorzata Kucharz

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Monika Godawska

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Marta Oleksa

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Marta Stawowy

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Katarzyna Slupinska-Borowka

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Wiktoria Sznek

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Iwona Gisterek

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland)

  • Agnieszka Boratyn-Nowicka

    (Katowice School of Technology, University of Technology in Katowice, ul. Rolna 43, 40-555 Katowice, Poland)

  • Monika Rucinska

    (Department of Oncology, Collegium Medicum, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-228 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Karolina Osowiecka

    (Department of Psychology and Sociology of Health and Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 11-041 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Sergiusz Nawrocki

    (Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy and Affiliated Student Science Club, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, ul. Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, Poland
    Department of Oncology, Collegium Medicum, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-228 Olsztyn, Poland)

Abstract

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common amongst cancer patients. The aim of the study was to investigate the use of CAM, beliefs about CAM and the purpose of using it amongst Polish cancer patients. Methods: The study included 864 cancer patients (median 63 years old), who were individually interviewed. The questionnaire was designed specifically for this study. Results: Amongst 732 patients who declared that they heard about CAM, 342 patients (46.7%) had used CAM; 91% of these patients had used it as a complementary therapy and 9% had used it as an alternative therapy. Patients younger in age, highly educated, professionally active, with longer medical history, and at more advanced cancer stages have, statistically, used CAM more often; 66% of participants could not state what the health effect of CAM is. Patients received information about CAM from the internet, friends, family and other patients. Only 18% of patients discussed using CAM with a doctor. Conclusions: CAM was popular amongst Polish cancer patients, especially in younger, educated and professionally active patients with longer cancer history at advanced stage. Patients used CAM as a complementary therapy for strengthening immune system, improving morphological and biochemical test parameters, reducing the side effects of conventional therapy and improving their well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Karolina Kasprzycka & Marta Kurzawa & Malgorzata Kucharz & Monika Godawska & Marta Oleksa & Marta Stawowy & Katarzyna Slupinska-Borowka & Wiktoria Sznek & Iwona Gisterek & Agnieszka Boratyn-Nowicka & , 2022. "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Hospitalized Cancer Patients—Study from Silesia, Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1600-:d:738868
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1600/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1600/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaja Michalczyk & Jakub Pawlik & Izabela Czekawy & Mateusz Kozłowski & Aneta Cymbaluk-Płoska, 2021. "Complementary Methods in Cancer Treatment—Cure or Curse?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-15, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aneta Brygida Jędrzejewska & Barbara Janina Ślusarska & Krzysztof Jurek & Grzegorz Józef Nowicki, 2022. "Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the International Questionnaire to Measure the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (I-CAM-Q) for the Polish and Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1600-:d:738868. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.