Mapping the clinical practice of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in oncology in Western countries: A multinational cross-sectional survey.
Acupuncture
Evidence-informed practice
Integrative medicine
International survey
Oncology
Journal
Journal of integrative medicine
ISSN: 2095-4964
Titre abrégé: J Integr Med
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 101603118
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
28 Dec 2023
28 Dec 2023
Historique:
received:
23
05
2023
accepted:
14
12
2023
medline:
11
1
2024
pubmed:
11
1
2024
entrez:
10
1
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Many cancer patients seek adjunctive therapies to biomedical cancer treatments at some point of their disease trajectory. While acupuncture is increasingly recommended by leading oncological associations, limited evidence exists concerning the evidence-informed practice and adherence to current guidelines of traditional complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) practitioners treating cancer patients. An international online-survey assessed the demographical data, clinical practice, and sources of information used by TCIM practitioners in Austria, Germany, United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand. In total, 404 respondents completed the survey, of which 254 (62.9%) treated cancer patients. Most practitioners were acupuncturists and herbalists (57.1%), had (16.8 ± 9.9) years of clinical experience and see a median of 2 (1, 4) cancer patients per week. Breast cancer (61.8%) is the most common cancer type seen in TCIM clinics. Adjunctive TCIM treatments are frequently concurrent with the patient's cancer specific treatment (39.9%), which is also reflected by the main goal of a TCIM treatment to alleviate side effects (52.4%). However, only 28.0% of the respondents are in contact with the treating oncologist. According to the respondents, pain is most effectively treated using acupuncture, while herbal medicine is best for cancer-related fatigue. TCIM practitioners mostly use certified courses (33.1%) or online databases (28.3%) but often believe that experts are more reliable to inform their practice (37.0%) than research publications (32.7%). Acupuncturists and herbalists commonly treat cancer patients. Most practitioners use TCIM as an adjunct to biomedicine as supportive care and use it largely in accordance with current oncological guidelines. Huemer M, Graca S, Bitsche S, Hofmann G, Armour M, Pichler M. Mapping the clinical practice of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in oncology in Western countries: A multinational cross-sectional survey. J Integr Med. 2024; Epub ahead of print.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Many cancer patients seek adjunctive therapies to biomedical cancer treatments at some point of their disease trajectory. While acupuncture is increasingly recommended by leading oncological associations, limited evidence exists concerning the evidence-informed practice and adherence to current guidelines of traditional complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) practitioners treating cancer patients.
METHODS
METHODS
An international online-survey assessed the demographical data, clinical practice, and sources of information used by TCIM practitioners in Austria, Germany, United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand.
RESULTS
RESULTS
In total, 404 respondents completed the survey, of which 254 (62.9%) treated cancer patients. Most practitioners were acupuncturists and herbalists (57.1%), had (16.8 ± 9.9) years of clinical experience and see a median of 2 (1, 4) cancer patients per week. Breast cancer (61.8%) is the most common cancer type seen in TCIM clinics. Adjunctive TCIM treatments are frequently concurrent with the patient's cancer specific treatment (39.9%), which is also reflected by the main goal of a TCIM treatment to alleviate side effects (52.4%). However, only 28.0% of the respondents are in contact with the treating oncologist. According to the respondents, pain is most effectively treated using acupuncture, while herbal medicine is best for cancer-related fatigue. TCIM practitioners mostly use certified courses (33.1%) or online databases (28.3%) but often believe that experts are more reliable to inform their practice (37.0%) than research publications (32.7%).
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncturists and herbalists commonly treat cancer patients. Most practitioners use TCIM as an adjunct to biomedicine as supportive care and use it largely in accordance with current oncological guidelines.
PLEASE CITE THIS ARTICLE AS
UNASSIGNED
Huemer M, Graca S, Bitsche S, Hofmann G, Armour M, Pichler M. Mapping the clinical practice of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in oncology in Western countries: A multinational cross-sectional survey. J Integr Med. 2024; Epub ahead of print.
Identifiants
pubmed: 38199884
pii: S2095-4964(23)00099-7
doi: 10.1016/j.joim.2023.12.002
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 Shanghai Yueyang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.