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Complementary and alternative medicine use in breast cancer patients in Europe

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A Correction to this article was published on 13 January 2024

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Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has gained popularity among cancer patients in the past years. For this study, CAM includes any group of health care systems, practices or products that are not considered to be part of conventional medicine at present (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine). The present study assessed patterns of CAM use in breast cancer patients in Europe. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional design, and data were collected through a 27-item questionnaire. The sample, which was part of a larger study, consisted of 282 breast cancer patients from 11 countries in Europe. Among participants, 44.7% used CAM since their diagnosis of cancer. The most common therapies used included herbal medicine (46.4%) and medicinal teas, relaxation techniques, spiritual therapies, homeopathy and vitamins/minerals. Younger patients with higher education and who had received combination treatments for their cancer in the past were more likely to use CAM. High levels of satisfaction were reported, with only 6.5% of the women reporting no benefits from the CAM used. Main sources of information about CAM were mostly friends/family and the media. Findings suggested that a high proportion of breast cancer patients used CAM, which may have implications for the clinical management of these patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, University of Manchester, Coupland III, Coupland Street, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Alexander Molassiotis

  2. Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, UK

    Julia A. Scott & Nora Kearney

  3. Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Dorit Pud

  4. Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Miriam Magri

  5. Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Brno, Czech Republic

    Sarka Selvekerova

  6. Belgian Society of Oncology Nursing, Brussels, Belgium

    Ingrid Bruyns

  7. Institut Català Oncologia ICO, Barcelona, Spain

    Paz Fernadez-Ortega

  8. Greek Oncology Nursing Society, Athens, Greece

    Vassiliki Panteli & Elisabeth Patiraki

  9. Klinik und Poliklinik für Onkologie, University Hospital Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Anita Margulies

  10. Department of Oncology, Landspitali, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Gudbjorg Gudmundsdottir

  11. Department of Education, Institute for Oncology and Radiology, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

    Ljiljana Milovics

  12. Gazi University Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

    Gulten Ozden

  13. School of Health Sciences, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Nurgun Platin

Authors
  1. Alexander Molassiotis
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  2. Julia A. Scott
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  3. Nora Kearney
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  4. Dorit Pud
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  5. Miriam Magri
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  6. Sarka Selvekerova
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  7. Ingrid Bruyns
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  8. Paz Fernadez-Ortega
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  9. Vassiliki Panteli
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  10. Anita Margulies
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  11. Gudbjorg Gudmundsdottir
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  12. Ljiljana Milovics
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  13. Gulten Ozden
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  14. Nurgun Platin
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  15. Elisabeth Patiraki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Molassiotis.

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Molassiotis, A., Scott, J.A., Kearney, N. et al. Complementary and alternative medicine use in breast cancer patients in Europe. Support Care Cancer 14, 260–267 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0883-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0883-7

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