| Titel: | Prevalence, Socio-Demographic and Clinical Predictors of Post-Diagnostic Utilisation of Different Types of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Cam) in a Nationwide Cohort of Danish Women Treated for Primary Breast Cancer |
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| Autor: | Pedersen, C. G. Christensen, S. Jensen, A. B. Zachariae, R. |
| Mediengruppe: | journal article |
| Herausgeber: | --- |
| Zeitschrift: | European Journal of Cancer |
| Jahr: | 2009 |
| Band: | 45 |
| Heft: | 18 |
| Seiten: | 3172-3181 |
| Sprache: | English |
| Abstract: | Aim: This study investigated the prevalence and predictors of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a nationwide inception cohort of Danish women treated for early-stage breast cancer as well as differences in user patterns for individual types of CAM.; Methods: Use of CAM since the time of diagnosis was assessed 12-16 weeks post-surgery for the 3343 women (age 18-70) included in the study (response rate: 68%). Socio-demographic and clinical variables were obtained from national longitudinal registries.; Results: 40.1% of the women had used one or more types of CAM. Users were younger than non-users. Age adjusted analyses showed that CAM users were characterised by absence of comorbidity, higher educational level, higher personal income, higher social status, being divorced/separated and living in the metropolitan area of Copenhagen. Multivariate analyses revealed that chemotherapy was the only clinical and treatment-related predictor of CAM use, and that CAM users were more likely to be of normal weight and non-smokers. Of CAM users, 33.7% believed that CAM would have a positive influence upon their breast cancer. Different characteristics distinguished users of individual types of CAM.; Conclusion: The results of this first nationwide study of utilisation of CAM in breast cancer show that CAM users are healthier and more likely to have higher socio-economic status than non-users. Different user patterns for individual types of CAM may be overlooked, when different types of CAM are treated as one homogeneous category. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |