A total of 58 different CAM therapies were used with the five most frequently used broad categories being similar across most countries. Herbs were the most common treatment used in 13 of the 14 countries and the number one CAM treatment in nine. Most of the herbs were specific to each country. Homeopathy was among the top five in seven countries as were medicinal teas, with vitamins or minerals featuring in the top five in nine countries. Six countries Israel, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Greece and Iceland featured strongly where spiritual therapies were concerned.
Patients spent, on average, 123 a month on CAM. The maximum monthly reported amount was 4,140. However, more than half paid nothing as most remedies were available free e.g. herbs collected themselves or supplied by family or friends.
Most patients said they used CAM because they wanted to increase their body's ability to fight the disease (50%), improve physical well-being (40%), or emotional well-being (35%). However, there were some differences in the reasons for using CAM and the actual benefits experienced. For example, although the primary reason for choosing CAM was to boost the ability to fight cancer only 22% found it of benefit, while 42% found it helped their emotional well-being although only 35% gave that as their reason for use.
Thirty-three different types of CAM practitioners were consulted, but over 6% were treated by their family doctor. Most had learnt about CAM from friends (56%), family (29%) or the media (28%), while 18% were informed by their physician. Under 10% had heard via the internet.
Overall, patients tended to be satisfied and felt their particular therapy was effective, with only 3% saying it was useless. On a scale of 0-7, the mean satisfaction rating was 5.27 and the mean perceived effectiveness rating was 5.04. Fourteen patients (4.4%
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Contact: Margaret Willson
m.willson@mwcommunications.org.uk
44-153-677-2181
European Society for Medical Oncology
2-Feb-2005