Coping Strategies and the Request for a Consultation on Complementary and Alternative Medicine  – a Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients in a Psychosomatic and Three Medical Departments of a German University Hospital

Huber, Roman; Lüdtke, Rainer; Beiser, Ines; Koch, Dietmar

doi:10.1159/000080556

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The differing perceptions of severity of illness may primarily be linked to different frequencies of major symptoms in the three patient populations of the study, but also may be related to different adjustments and coping strategies with disease in patients seeking COM or CAM. 26 The high proportions for problems of the nervous system and sense organs observed in the CAM+ group are comparable with other European studies. 15,27 This distinct attraction of CAM may be associated with the fact that conventional therapies are not always perceived as effective for these problems.…”

Section: Socio-demographic Attributes Of Patientssupporting

confidence: 88%

Health status and health care utilisation of patients in complementary and conventional primary care in Switzerland—an observational study

et al. 2005

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Section: Socio-demographic Attributes Of Patientssupporting

confidence: 88%

Health status and health care utilisation of patients in complementary and conventional primary care in Switzerland—an observational study

et al. 2005

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“…In our cohort, CAM users (median EDSS 4.0) were more progressed than nonusers (median EDSS 2.0). CAM users differed significantly from nonusers with higher values for coping styles for “search for information.” Similar interrelationships were shown for CAM utilization in oncological patients and in patients with gastroenterological and cardiologic problems …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Coping behavior in multiple sclerosis—complementary and alternative medicine: A cross‐sectional study

König¹,

Sühnel

Zettl

2018

CNS Neurosci Ther

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SummaryMain ProblemTreatment options for multiple sclerosis (MS) have enlarged tremendously over the last years. Nonetheless, lots of patients look for alternative treatment options. The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread in MS, however, its scientific investigation is limited so far. The aim of the study is to analyse clinical and demographical differences of MS patients in dependency of their CAM utilization as coping strategy.MethodsA total of 254 patients with a clinically definite MS were examined in a semistructured interview. Additional standardized questionnaires were used to measure different aspects of coping with illness. All patients underwent neurological examination.ResultsAbout 206 of all enrolled patients are CAM users (81.1%). They have a longer disease duration (8.3 years vs 7.3 years, P = 0.028) and show higher disability (median EDSS 4.0 vs 2.0, P < 0.001) than nonusers. CAM users differed significantly from nonusers in their coping behavior (P = 0.035). Users are brooding more heavily over the disease, looking for more information about MS, and are looking for a sense of their disease in religion more often than nonusers. CAM users are at a higher risk of depression. Almost two‐thirds of CAM users (57.6%) reported positive effects on the well‐being of their state of health.ConclusionCoping behavior differs significantly between CAM users and nonusers. CAM utilization is associated with higher disability and depression. More than 80% of our cohort has used alternative or complementary methods. CAM utilization may mirror unmet needs in the treatment of MS.

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“…More recent studies, not included in the above review, also come to ambiguous results regarding associations between CAM use and IHLOC. No relationship between internal locus of control and requests for CAM was found in an inpatient sample in Germany [19]. However, positive relationships have been found in cancer patients [20, 21], in patients with lower back pain [22], in the healthy population [23], and in a mixed sample [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internal health locus of control in users of complementary and alternative medicine: a cross-sectional survey

Schützler

Witt

2014

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundComplementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used in Germany, with some treatments eligible for health insurance reimbursements. CAM encourages patients to play an active role in their healing process. The belief that a person’s own behavior influences health is assessed as the internal health locus of control (IHLOC). Studies on the association between IHLOC and CAM use yield inconsistent results. Using various indicators of CAM use, we evaluated whether there were differences in IHLOC between different groups of CAM users.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted. IHLOC was compared between participants with high and low appraisal of CAM, between participants who used different types of medications (none, CAM, conventional, both), and who consulted with different health care professionals (none, CAM, conventional, both). Independent samples t-tests and ANOVAs were conducted for the total group and for subgroups of chronically ill and healthy participants. Post-hoc, we conducted a multivariate linear regression evaluating which indicators of CAM use or other characteristics showed the strongest association with IHLOC.ResultsA total of 1,054 undergraduate students completed the survey. Participants with high CAM appraisal showed higher IHLOC than those with low CAM appraisal, regardless of whether they were chronically ill (p < .001). Participants without chronic conditions showed higher IHLOC when only using CAM medications than when using either conventional medications alone or both conventional and CAM medications (p < .05). All participants showed higher IHLOC when visiting only CAM practitioners than when visiting either only conventional or both conventional and CAM practitioners (p < .05). CAM appraisal was associated the strongest with IHLOC in the linear regression model.ConclusionsGenerally, participants using CAM more or exclusively, and participants with higher appraisal of CAM showed higher IHLOC than those with less CAM use or lower CAM appraisal. Because of the cross-sectional design, it is not possible to determine whether differences in IHLOC are reasons for or consequences of CAM use. Research using a longitudinal design is needed. The sample, though more representative than most student samples, might not represent the general population. Studies evaluating clinical populations might add to the findings.

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Coping Strategies and the Request for a Consultation on Complementary and Alternative Medicine – a Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients in a Psychosomatic and Three Medical Departments of a German University Hospital

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Health status and health care utilisation of patients in complementary and conventional primary care in Switzerland—an observational study

Health status and health care utilisation of patients in complementary and conventional primary care in Switzerland—an observational study

Coping behavior in multiple sclerosis—complementary and alternative medicine: A cross‐sectional study

Internal health locus of control in users of complementary and alternative medicine: a cross-sectional survey

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