Complementary and Alternative Therapy Use in Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we aimed to document the use of alternative and complementary therapy (ACT) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, and the relationship with socio-demographic characteristics and clinical data of the ACT users. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 101 MS patients followed in our outpatient clinic and living in Eagean district, mostly in central İzmir. All of them completed a questionnaire related to the use of ACT. Patients who had used any type of ACT were statistically compared with patients who had never used such a treatment in terms of their socio-demographic and clinical variables. Results: Of the 101 patients reviewed, 65% were women. The majority of the patients had relapsing-remitting MS (90.1%). Sixty eight percent of participants reported never using ACT. Twenty six of the patients had tried an alternative treatment once. Only half of them reported some benefit. However, only six patients were still on this treatment. Conclusion: We conclude that our patients who were mostly living in the central city and had medium to high educational levels, did not have knowledge about ACT. The patients using such therapies mostly did not experience a meaningful benefit. No statistically meaningful difference was found between the alternative treatment users and non-users regarding EDSS scores, MS subtype, disease duration, age, educational level and residential district. Sonuç: Çoğunluğu İzmir şehir merkezinde yaşayan ve eğitim düzeyi iyi olan MS hastalarımızın çoğu ATT hakkında bilgi sahibi değildi. Bu tür tedavileri düzenli uygulayan ve faydasını gören herhangi bir hasta yoktu. Alternatif ve tamamlayıcı tedavileri uygulayan ve uygulamayan hasta grupları

Access, delivery and perceived efficacy of physiotherapy and use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom: An online survey

“…In addition, a study in Germany found that the majority of complementary and alternative therapies use by people with multiple sclerosis happens in the early stages of the disease as initially they explore all avenues (Kochs et al, 2014). As the participants in this sample had a mean time since diagnosis of 16 years this may explain why complementary and alternative therapies use was lower that most of previous research where, when reported, time since diagnosis was from seven to nine years (Apel et al, 2006;Gedizlioglu et al, 2015).…”

“…This result was lower than complementary and alternative therapies use in Germany (67%) (Apel et al, 2006), the United States of America (58%) (Stoll et al, 2012) and the Nordic countries (46-58%) (Skovgaard et al, 2012) but higher than complementary and alternative therapies use in Turkey (26%) (Gedizlioglu et al, 2015). The majority of the participants in the studies which reported higher complementary and alternative therapies usage had relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and were mildly or moderately affected.…”

“…Furthermore, the perceived efficacy of physiotherapy services and barriers to accessing them is also unknown. In addition to traditional clinical services, people with multiple sclerosis often utilise complementary and alternative therapies in the management of their condition and whilst there is literature examining usage across the Nordic countries (46-58%) (Skovgaard et al, 2012), the United States of America (58%) (Stoll et al, 2012), Germany (67%) (Apel et al, 2006), and Turkey (26%) (Gedizlioglu et al, 2015) there is currently no information on the use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom.…”

Multiple Sclerosis and Complementary Therapies

“…Gedizoğlu ve ark. (11) çalışmasında ise, hastaların en az bir TAT kullanım sıklığı %25.7 olarak belirlenmiştir.…”

“…TAT yöntemlerinden haberdar olan hastalar, en çok akrabalarını haber kaynağı olarak göstermiştir. Diğer haber kaynaklarının ise internet, yazılı basın ve %3'lük bir bölümünün ise diğer MS hastaları olduğunu belirtmişlerdir (11) . MS hastalarının %50 ile %75'inin medikal tedavilerden memnun olmaması nedeniyle TAT yöntemlerine başvurduğu, TAT kullananlarda semptomların şiddetinde azalma görüldüğü belirtilmiştir (12,13) .…”