Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Families Having Patients with Chronic Diseases: El-Mahsama Village-Ismailia Governorate

Background: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) encompasses all forms of therapies that fall outside the mainstream of medical practice. The domain of CAM is attracting more and more attention. Understanding the extent and patterns of CAM usage in an economically developing country like Egypt is important on planning for health at diffrent levels.Objectives: This study was conducted aiming at assessing prevalence, pattern and factors affect CAM use among families with chronic disease patients.Subjects and Methods: A comprehensive sampling design was used in this cross-sectional, community-based study, which was conducted in rural community. One hundred and eighty-nine participants were interviewed face to face by trained interviewers. Obtained data were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS 20). The appropriate statistical tests were used. Statistical significance was considered at p-value 0.05.Results: The present study showed that, considerable proportion (46%) of studied population had used CAM at some time in the past in their life. Herbal therapies were the most frequently used (82.8%) as CAM therapy, followed by, Honey bees (35.6%), Cupping (23%). CAM showed significant association with some socio-demographic factors as age, education and health insurance. Lastly, there was significant association between use of CAM and adherence with the conventional therapy ( p 0.05).Conclusion and Recommendation: There is a considerable prevalence of CAM practices among the population in El- Mahsma village. The results of the present study call for including CAM in the under and post graduate curriculum in medical schools, continuous medical education programs.