Group adult cam
10-Dec-2020 15:47
Cancer patients were screened and assessed for study eligibility from October 2007 through March 2008.Patients were included if they met the following inclusion criteria: (i) at least 21 years of age or older, (ii) of either gender with a confirmed diagnosis of cancer regardless of tumor type, (iii) conversant in either English or Mandarin and (iv) willing to participate in the study.
Hence, it is difficult to assess and compare CAM prevalence and usage across studies [6, 7].
High prevalence of CAM use was also reported among Taiwanese homebound cancer patients (61%) [11] and in our local pediatric cancer patients (67.1%) [12].
Possible explanations to account for the high usage of CAM in cancer patients include to boost the immune system, relieve pain and control complications or side-effects related to disease or treatment [13].
Differences in patients’ sociodemographic and clinical characteristics between CAM and non-CAM users and interinterviewer variation were assessed using Pearson chi-square or Fisher's exact test.
A two-sided CAM use was reported by 227 patients (56.3%) and 43.7% of patients interviewed had used CAM before their cancer diagnoses (Table 2).
Fifty-six percent of patients reported CAM usage and the most commonly used CAM include Traditional Chinese Medicine, bird's nest and special diet.
