Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Infertility: Cultural and Religious Influences in a Multicultural Canadian Setting

Read, Suzanne C.; Whitley, Robert B.; Gold, Ian; Tulandi, Togas; Zelkowitz, Phyllis

doi:10.1089/acm.2013.0329

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…This prevalence of herbal medicine use is lower than similar studies conducted in Uganda [ 38 ] and Lebanon [ 35 ] but higher than studies conducted in USA [ 36 ], Turkey [ 37 ], Jordan [ 33 ], Australia [ 42 ], and Rwanda [ 39 ]. The difference in utilization rate observed with other countries may be partly due to variation in the availability and access to conventional healthcare and the sociocultural difference on how traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine use is perceived as well as the heterogeneity in the study design and definition of TCAM therapy used [ 45 , 46 ]. Considering the widespread use of herbal medicine among the Sierra Leonean populace [ 47 , 48 ], and the fact that women in Africa are under enormous pressure to conceive [ 5 , 49 ], the search for answers to their predicament goes beyond seeking conventional care to also include alternative medical care in the form of herbal medicine [ 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Correlates of Herbal Medicine Use among Women Seeking Care for Infertility in Freetown, Sierra Leone

James

Taidy-Leigh

Bah

et al. 2018

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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In resource-poor countries where access to infertility care is limited, women may turn to traditional medicine to achieve motherhood. It is unknown whether Sierra Leonean women with such condition use herbal medicine. This study investigates the prevalence and factors associated with herbal medicine use among women seeking care for infertility. This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted among women seeking care for infertility at various clinics within Freetown, Sierra Leone. Data analysis included Chi-square tests and logistic regression. Out of the 167 women that participated, 36.5% used herbal medicine for infertility treatment. Women with no formal (AOR 4.03, CL: 1.38–11.76, p = 0.011), primary education (AOR: 6.23, CL: 2.02–19.23, p = 0.001) and those that visited a traditional medicine practitioner (AOR: 20.05, CL: 2.10–192.28, p = 0.009) as well as women suffering from other reproductive health problems (AOR: 2.57, CL: 1.13–5.83, p = 0.024) were more likely to use herbal medicines. Friends and family (n = 57, 96.7%) were the main influencers of herbal medicine use. Only (n = 12) 19.7% of users disclosed their status to their healthcare provider. Over half (n = 32, 52.5%) could not remember the name of the herb they used. Luffa acutangula (n = 29, 100%) was the herbal medicinal plant users could recall. Herbal medicine use among women seeking care for infertility in Freetown is common. Healthcare providers should be aware of the potential dyadic use of herbal and allopathic medicines by their patients and be knowledgeable about commonly used herbal remedies as well as being proactive in communicating the potential risks and benefits associated with their use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Correlates of Herbal Medicine Use among Women Seeking Care for Infertility in Freetown, Sierra Leone

James

Taidy-Leigh

Bah

et al. 2018

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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“…Although there has been an increase in the use of CAM use over time [ 25 ], despite the fact that this increase is not necessarily supported by empirical evidence. However, some individuals may choose to use CAM methods to feel more in control of their fertility treatment [ 5 ]. This potential feeling of empowerment, however, is not adequately captured by the existing studies involving CAM and mental health as most of the mental health studies found were of poor quality, and did not measure the quality of life of the participants or their feelings of empowerment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) purportedly offer couples a way to improve outcomes and/or decrease stress and anxiety levels during treatment [ 2 – 4 ]. CAM are also used to incorporate cultural traditions of health and fertility as well as increase feelings of hope and control during a biomedicalized fertility treatment plan [ 5 ]. Some patients also use CAM as an alternative to assisted reproductive technologies, although most fertility patients use CAM in addition to biomedical fertility treatment [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for the use of complementary and alternative medicines during fertility treatment: a scoping review

Miner

Robins

Zhu

et al. 2018

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundComplementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are sometimes used by individuals who desire to improve the outcomes of their fertility treatment and/or mental health during fertility treatment. However, there is little comprehensive information available that analyzes various CAM methods across treatment outcomes and includes information that is published in languages other than English.MethodThis scoping review examines the evidence for 12 different CAM methods used to improve female and male fertility outcomes as well as their association with improving mental health outcomes during fertility treatment. Using predefined key words, online medical databases were searched for articles (n = 270). After exclusion criteria were applied, 148 articles were analyzed in terms of their level of evidence and the potential for methodological and author bias.ResultsSurveying the literature on a range of techniques, this scoping review finds a lack of high quality evidence that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) improves fertility or mental health outcomes for men or women. Acupuncture has the highest level of evidence for its use in improving male and female fertility outcomes although this evidence is inconclusive.ConclusionOverall, the quality of the evidence across CAM methods was poor not only because of the use of research designs that do not yield conclusive results, but also because results were contradictory. There is a need for more research using strong methods such as randomized controlled trials to determine the effectiveness of CAM in relation to fertility treatment, and to help physicians and patients make evidence-based decisions about CAM use during fertility treatment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-018-2224-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…The cause of symptoms presented are also debated from the various models, it can be described as supernatural 8,26 and therefore requiring religious aid such as prayers and complementary treatments, or biomedical that may require medication or surgery. Read et al 27 researched into the use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients of various ethnicities in Canada, finding that many women endorsed the complementary and alternative medicine for infertility, focusing mainly on acupuncture and Chinese or other herbal medicines, as well as medicines that derived from their cultural backgrounds. This pursuit of their own culture's traditional healing methods may not be seen as acceptable or understandable by healthcare professionals in the dominant culture, 27 revealing the strong paternalistic and biomedical feature of some clinicians which may discourage patients from seeking healthcare.…”

Section: Multicultural Attitude To Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Read et al 27 researched into the use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients of various ethnicities in Canada, finding that many women endorsed the complementary and alternative medicine for infertility, focusing mainly on acupuncture and Chinese or other herbal medicines, as well as medicines that derived from their cultural backgrounds. This pursuit of their own culture's traditional healing methods may not be seen as acceptable or understandable by healthcare professionals in the dominant culture, 27 revealing the strong paternalistic and biomedical feature of some clinicians which may discourage patients from seeking healthcare. 28 Thus the act of introspection and deconstruction of a situation, by looking at the way in which human biology may be different e.g.…”

Section: Multicultural Attitude To Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiculturalism in Healthcare: A Review of Current Research into Diversity Found in the Healthcare Professional Population and the Patient Population

Tan

2016

Int J Med Students

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Culture plays a key role in the way health is perceived and the way healthcare is used. It has been seen that there are many barriers to accessing healthcare, particularly for those who come to the UK with a different background language, religion and healthcare structure. A literature review and content analysis has been performed using 60 articles, selected from the databases PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, in order to expose how diverse the patient and healthcare professional population truly are, the number of barriers to healthcare and how one can improve access to become culturally competent. Although this is only a small sample of the material present, it is evident that at the present time physical amenities such as having a translator present, as well the training of the healthcare professionals to be able to make the most of the situation and see the patients in a holistic and biopsychosocial approach, reveal an important area to focus more on in practice as well as in research. Thus an increased availability of resources and training needs to be made available for both patients and healthcare professionals in order to ensure competence in accessing healthcare services

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Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Infertility: Cultural and Religious Influences in a Multicultural Canadian Setting

Cited by 27 publications

References 42 publications

Prevalence and Correlates of Herbal Medicine Use among Women Seeking Care for Infertility in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Prevalence and Correlates of Herbal Medicine Use among Women Seeking Care for Infertility in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Evidence for the use of complementary and alternative medicines during fertility treatment: a scoping review

Multiculturalism in Healthcare: A Review of Current Research into Diversity Found in the Healthcare Professional Population and the Patient Population

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