Clinical and Socio Demographic Profiles of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Users among Outpatient Clinic Attendees in Uyo, South-South Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a growing area of Primary care globally. This study aimed at assessing the extent of the use of CAM among adult patients attending the Family Medicine Clinic of University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study involving 574 consenting adult subjects aged 18-69 years, recruited over a 6-month period, using a systematic sampling method. An Interviewer administered Questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using the 17th version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results: Of the 574 subjects studied, two thirds were female 62.9% (n=361). A total of 19.5% men (n=112) and 44.3% (n=254) women respondents respectively, were found in this study to have used CAM (p=0.000). Married respondents used CAM remedies more frequently than the non-married (p=0.000). There were no statistically significant relationships between place of residence (p=0.007), level of education (p=0.052) and CAM use. Low and middle level income earners constituted the majority of CAM users here in this study (p=0.000). Herbal remedies were the most frequently used preparations among the respondents accounting for 61.7%. There was statistically significant relationship between CAM use and the presence of hypertension (p=0.001), diabetes mellitus (p=0.001) and osteoarthritis (p=0.001) among respondents in this study. Conclusion: CAM use is common among middle aged respondents especially the women, married and in middle and low income groups. Lack of standardization of herbal preparation as well as the potential for hazardous drug-drug interactions constitutes the major drawback regarding this choice of therapy. Physicians are encouraged to cultivate interest in interviewing their patients on CAM use to avert any serious adverse reactions arising from the combination of CAM and orthodox drugs.