Complementary and alternative medicine use among patients with thyroid cancer
Authors
Rosen, Jennifer E.Gardiner, Paula
Saper, Robert B.
Filippelli, Amanda C.
White, Laura F.
Pearce, Elizabeth N.
Gupta-Lawrence, Rebecca L.
Lee, Stephanie L.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Family Medicine and Community HealthCenter for Integrated Primary Care
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2013-10-01Keywords
complementary and alternative medicinethyroid cancer
Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Behavioral Medicine
Endocrine System Diseases
Health Psychology
Neoplasms
Psychiatry and Psychology
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
BACKGROUND: To report on the incidence and predictors of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among patients with thyroid cancer. METHODS: Data were collected using a web-based online anonymous survey under Institutional Review Board approval from Boston University. This report is based on 1327 responses from subjects with thyroid cancer. Patient factors were compared by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: After excluding multivitamin and prayer use, 74% (n=941) used CAM. Respondents were primarily over age 40, white, and female and held a college degree. The top five modalities were massage therapy, chiropraxy, special diets, herbal tea, and yoga. Few patients reported perceiving a particular modality had a negative effect on treatment. CAM was more often used for treatment of symptoms (73%) than as part of thyroid cancer treatment (27%). Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that patients reporting a poor health status, higher education, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary symptoms, or persistent, recurrent, or metastatic disease were more likely to use CAM for treatment of thyroid cancer symptoms. Nearly one third of respondents reported their CAM use was not known, prescribed, or asked about by their physicians. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to national surveys of the general U.S. population, patients with thyroid cancer use CAM therapies twice as often and report their use far less often. Physicians who treat patients with thyroid cancer should be aware of these data to further assist in their assessment and care.Source
Thyroid. 2013 Oct;23(10):1238-46. doi: 10.1089/thy.2012.0495. Epub 2013 Jul 25. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1089/thy.2012.0495Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/26838PubMed ID
23350883Notes
At the time of publication, Paula Gardiner was not yet affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1089/thy.2012.0495