Publication: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practice among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia
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Date
2019-06
Authors
Zulkifli, Nur Athirah
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Abstract
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. CAM is widely used among diabetic patients as an adjunct to conventional therapy in developing countries. The aim of this study was to identify the CAM practice among patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Hospital USM. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 82 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients. Participants were selected through convenience sampling method and fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Data was statistically analyzed using the software package SSPS version 24. The finding shows that the prevalence of CAM practice among T2DM patients in Hospital USM was low (n=37, 45.1%). Gender (p = .003) and occuptional status (p = .041) had a significant association with CAM practice. However, age (p= .367), race (p= 1.000), marital status (p= .823), level of education (p= .841), household income (p = .166) and duration diagnosed with T2DM (p= .362) had no statistically significant association with CAM practice. The findings shows that majority of CAM user use biological based therapy such as bitter gourd (n=25, 30.1%) and Misai Kucing (n=19, 22.9%) to manage T2DM. CAM users had practice on CAM because they believe that CAM had better diabetes control (n=34, 41.0%), easily available and cheaper and also had fewer side effects (n=28, 33.7%) respectively. This research also showed that T2DM patients did not practice on CAM because they do not want to mix up with their current medications (n=45, 51.8%). In conclusion, this present study revealed CAM practice was not prevalent among T2DM patients. However, there is still a need to identify CAM practice among T2DM patients and manage it appropriately.