Document Detail


Medicinal systems of complementary and alternative medicine: a cross-sectional survey at a pediatric emergency department.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20374101     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to find out which experiences adults are making while treating children with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in German-speaking Switzerland. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: A cross-sectional survey was performed on adults accompanying the children presenting to an urban, tertiary pediatric emergency department in Zurich; 71% of the distributed questionnaires (1143 of 1600) could be used for data analysis. The respondents were asked about their experiences while treating the child with CAM and--for comparison reasons--with conventional medicine (CM). RESULTS: The respondents perceived the effectiveness of CAM therapies in general to be inferior to that of CM, although 49% of all respondents stated that CAM therapies were more effective than CM in certain cases/against certain diseases and 13% that CAM therapies were as effective as CM. Higher frequency of use and lower compliance were observed in the case of CAM, relatively to CM. Respondents described the direct costs for the patient of both types of medicine to be comparable. Ninety-three percent (93%) of the respondents experienced no side-effects with CAM therapies, whereas only 52% of the respondents stated the same about CM therapies; the observed side-effects of CAM were weaker than those of CM. Homeopathy was the most frequently used form of CAM (77% of all CAM users), followed by herbal medicine (64%), anthroposophic medicine (24%), Traditional Chinese Medicine (13%), Ayurveda (5%), and others (34%). CONCLUSIONS: From the respondents' point of view, the most marked difference between CAM- and CM therapies concerns the frequency and intensity of side-effects, which were markedly higher in the latter case. The respondents made use of a wide variety of CAM therapies.
Authors:
Tycho Jan Zuzak; Isabelle Zuzak-Siegrist; Lukas Rist; Georg Staubli; Ana Paula Simões-Wüst
Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)     Volume:  16     ISSN:  1557-7708     ISO Abbreviation:  J Altern Complement Med     Publication Date:  2010 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-04-28     Completed Date:  2010-09-30     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9508124     Medline TA:  J Altern Complement Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  473-9     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Oncology and Haematology, University Children's Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Attitude to Health*
Child, Preschool
Complementary Therapies* / adverse effects,  economics,  utilization
Cross-Sectional Studies
Direct Service Costs*
Drug Toxicity
Emergency Medicine* / economics
Female
Health Care Surveys
Humans
Male
Patient Compliance*
Patient Satisfaction*
Pediatrics* / economics
Questionnaires
Switzerland
Treatment Outcome

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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