Quality of life and complementary and alternative medicine use among cancer patients in Turkey.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between quality of life and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among Turkish cancer patients.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Istanbul University Institute of Oncology, Turkey. Two-hundred patients were invited and informed consent was obtained, however 179 cancer patients completed the study. The Patient Characteristics form, The Nightingale Symptom Assessment Scale and The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale were used in the evaluation of the patients' characteristics and quality of life.

RESULTS: Some form of CAM had been used by 71.5% of the sample. Frequently used CAM methods appeared to be religious practices (68.2%) and only 37.4% of the patients used herbs. However, female patients, single patients, and individuals with metastatic disease and worse quality of life showed a tendency to use CAM more often. More than one-third of our patients began to use CAM immediately after being diagnosed with cancer and factors associated with CAM use varied according to the type of CAM. Although CAM use did not affect the patients' quality of life, logistic regression analysis revealed that gender, type of cancer diagnosis and education level were important factors to be considered in different CAM therapies.

CONCLUSION: CAM use is common in cancer patients in Turkey. More discussion about CAM use should take place between patients and health professionals to inform the patients' decisions.