eHealth technologies assisting in identifying potential adverse interactions with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or standalone CAM adverse events or side effects: a scoping review

Abstract

Background: While there are several existing eHealth technologies for drug-drug interactions and stand-alone drug adverse effects, it appears that considerably less attention is focussed on that of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Despite poor knowledge of their potential interactions and side effects, many patients use CAM. This justifies the need to identify what eHealth technologies are assisting in identifying potential 1) adverse drug interactions with CAM, 2) adverse CAM-CAM interactions or 3) standalone CAM adverse events or side effects. Methods: A scoping review was conducted to identify eHealth technologies assisting in identifying potential adverse interactions with CAM or standalone CAM adverse events or side effects, following Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage scoping review framework. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and AMED databases and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health website were systematically searched. Eligible articles had to have assessed or referenced an eHealth technology assisting in identifying potential one or more of the three aforementioned items. We placed no eligibility restrictions on type of eHealth technology.

Traditional and complementary medicine use and beliefs during COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey among the general population in Turkey

“…The fact may be that the general population and patients does not know about potential drug-T&CM interactions. The interaction of T&CM remedies with medically approved medicines raised the issue of safety [40] . There is urgent need for the implementation of T&CM regulation act, enhanced physician-patients communication and educational programs for the general population about T&CM.…”

Prevalence and Determinants of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Use Among Subjects with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in a Tertiary Institution in South East Nigeria

“…It is known that medicinal plants reduce blood glucose through biochemical mechanisms such as restitution of pancreatic β-cell function, improvement in insulin sensitivity by receptors, stimulating rate of insulin secretion, inhibition of liver gluconeogenesis, enhanced glucose absorption, and inhibition of G-6-Pase, αamylase, and α-glucosidase activities 14,42 . However, the use of CAM is also fraught with many problems including drug-todrug interactions, side effects, dosing, limited knowledge of the various constituents of each CAM, and the possibility of causing further complications in the subjects taking them 36,43,44 . This problem is compounded by weak regulation of the production, distribution, and use of non-orthodox remedies in Nigeria 45,46 .…”

Web-based online resources about adverse interactions or side effects associated with complementary and alternative medicine: a systematic review, summarization and quality assessment

“…A systematic search and scoping review published by Ng et al in 2020 was undertaken to answer the following research question: “What eHealth technologies are assisting in identifying potential (1) adverse drug interactions with CAM, (2) adverse CAM-CAM interactions or (3) standalone CAM adverse events or side effects?” [ 22 ]. Based on our understanding of this existing knowledge gap, we elected to present our findings in the format of summaries outlining what each resource offers the user, along with DISCERN instrument quality assessments of each resource allowing clinicians and researchers to quickly choose a suitable resource for their needs.…”

“…For these reasons in conjunction with a dramatic rise in interest in conducting CAM studies among researchers [ 2 , 21 ], a more recent update incorporating a systematic search is warranted. Thus, the purpose of this study is to summarize and assess the content quality of web-based online resources providing information about adverse interactions or side effects associated with CAM [ 22 ] in order to provide clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive list of resources containing information on this topic.…”