Chronic disease and use of complementary and alternative medicine in adults attending a primary care clinic in western Nigeria

Abstract

Background: With the increasing attention on use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) worldwide, most studies
relating to CAM emanated from the developed world. Studies conducted in the developing world are important to provide templates
for further studies and practice guidelines. This study investigated the use of CAM as well as factors associated with CAM use in a
primary care setting in Western Nigeria

Methods:This study involved as systematic sample of consenting adult patients attending the family medicine clinic of Federal
Medical Center, Abeokuta, Western Nigeria. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire and patient medical records were used to collect
information on CAM use and chronic diseases in this cross sectional study. Stata statistical software version 12 was used for data
analysis.

Results: 287 participants (39.72%males and 60.28% females, 70 with and 217 without chronic disease) were included. Ages ranged
from 19 – 81 years. Participants with chronic diseases were significantly older than those without (p=0.001). Prevalence of CAM use
was 69.7% (95%CI 64.3 – 75.0). The most common CAM type used was biology based products, followed by the mind – body modality. Presence of chronic disease was significantly associated with the use of CAM (OR 2.13, 95%CI 1.02 – 4.43, p = 0.043). After adjusting for confounders, CAM use was found to be higher in females (OR 4.54, 95% CI 2.38-8.69), unskilled workers (OR 9.24, 95% CI 2.38-32.00) and Moslem religion (OR 4.02, 95% CI 1.42-11.40).

Conclusion: CAM use is high in this population and especially amongst those with chronic diseases. There is need to the conduct of
safety and efficacy studies on CAM, possibly using qualitative methodology.

Key words: Complementary medicine, alternative medicine, chronic diseases, Nigeria