Use of complementary and alternative medicine in healthy children and children with chronic medical conditions in Germany

• Published in: Complementary therapies in medicine Vol. 21; no. S1; pp. S61 - S69
• Main Authors: Gottschling, Sven, Gronwald, Benjamin, Schmitt, Sarah, Schmitt, Christine, Längler, Alfred, Leidig, Eberhard, Meyer, Sascha, Baan, Annette, Shamdeen, M. Ghiath, Berrang, Jens, Graf, Norbert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Scotland Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2013; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adolescent; Alternative medicine; CAM; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic Disease; Chronic illnesses; Complementary Therapies - utilization; Female; Germany; Health; Health Care Surveys; Hospitals; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical Education; Metabolic disorders; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patient Satisfaction; Pediatrics; Physician-Patient Relations; Reference Values; Religion; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Germany; Pediatrics; CAM
• ISSN: 0965-2299; 1873-6963
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2011.06.001

Summary Objectives Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children is common and probably increasing. However little is known about differences between healthy and chronically ill children with a focus on prevalence, reasons for use/non-use, costs, adverse effects and socio-demographic factors. Design A questionnaire-based survey with 500 participants visiting the outpatient clinic of the University Children's Hospital Homburg, Germany was conducted over a 4-week period in 2004. Recruitment was stopped when 500 questionnaires were handed out in total. Results Of the 405 (81%) respondents (242 with chronic conditions, 163 healthy children incidentally visiting the hospital for minor ailments) 229 (57%) reported lifetime CAM use (59% with chronic conditions versus 53% healthy children). Among CAM users the most prevalent therapies were homeopathy (25%), herbal remedies (8%), anthroposophic medicine (7%), vitamin preparations (6%) and acupuncture (5%). The main reasons for use were to strengthen the immune system, physical stabilisation and to increase healing chances/maintain health. Socio-demographic factors associated with CAM use were tertiary education (mother: p = 0.017; father: p > 0.001), higher family income ( p = 0.001) and being Protestant ( p = 0.01). Expectations towards CAM were high and most parents would recommend certain CAM (94%). 79% of the users informed a physician about CAM use. Side effects were rarely reported (4%), minor and self-limiting. Conclusions Clinical care and the physician-patient relation would benefit from an enhanced understanding of CAM and a greater candidness towards the parental needs. The safety and efficacy especially of CAM with high prevalence rates should be determined in rigorous basic and clinical researches.