Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by Hospice Oncology Patients During Ambulatory Palliative Care
Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by Hospice Oncology Patients During Ambulatory Palliative Care
The aim of the study is to assess Prevalence of complementary and alternative therapy use by adult patients from the area of Silesian agglomeration (Poland) with advanced, metastatic cancer disease who were admitted to "Pro Salute" Hospice for ambulatory palliative care between July 2017 and September 2018
The research team developed the CAT (complementary and alternative therapy) screening tool to obtain information about CAM use from patients. The screening tool was based on a The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine's (NCCAM) classification of CAM. CAT were grouped into five main categories: (1) biologically based therapies , (2) mind/body therapies, (3) manipulative and body-based therapies, (4) Energy therapies and (5) alternative medical systems.
The questionaire was tailored to meet the objectives of this study and to be adjusted to hospice patients specifics. It was piloted on the group of 25 patients, resulting in some vocabulary changes. The final questionnaire consists of 25 multiple-choice, semi-structured questions and takes about 15 min to complete. For each general CAM category the detailed information was collected on the type of specific therapy that was used. Patients were considered as CAM users if they have used at least one therapy from at least one of the categories during the period of 12 months prior to the screening. Patients were asked to specify the reasons for CAT usage, experienced effects of the therapy, stage at which patients considered using CAM
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: