Abstract
Purpose: This study examined the use of complementary medicine among the radiotherapy patients in Hong Kong and the need of such services in the clinical oncology departments in Hong Kong.
Materials and methods: Subjects were Chinese cancer patients and had undergone radiotherapy for more than 2 months but less than 2 years. A self-designed questionnaire and the Hong Kong Chinese Version of the World Health Organization: Quality of Life Measure Abbreviated version questionnaire WHOQOL-BREF (HK) were used for data collection. Differences between complementary medicine users and non-users were assessed by chi-square and t tests.
Results: Of the 200 participants, 54 % had used at least one form of complementary medicine. Use was greatest for Chinese herbal medicine (86 %), Chi Gong (14 %) and Tai Chi (10 %) and predicted by lower education level (p = 0.002), use of cancer resources centre (p = 0.044) and sites of cancer (p = 0.015).
Conclusion: Many patients felt that they obtained some benefits from complementary medicine. The implementation of complementary medicine services in the clinical oncology departments was to the patients' interest and should be promoted but careful planning is needed due to the high cost and lack of knowledge on CM by patients and doctors.
Materials and methods: Subjects were Chinese cancer patients and had undergone radiotherapy for more than 2 months but less than 2 years. A self-designed questionnaire and the Hong Kong Chinese Version of the World Health Organization: Quality of Life Measure Abbreviated version questionnaire WHOQOL-BREF (HK) were used for data collection. Differences between complementary medicine users and non-users were assessed by chi-square and t tests.
Results: Of the 200 participants, 54 % had used at least one form of complementary medicine. Use was greatest for Chinese herbal medicine (86 %), Chi Gong (14 %) and Tai Chi (10 %) and predicted by lower education level (p = 0.002), use of cancer resources centre (p = 0.044) and sites of cancer (p = 0.015).
Conclusion: Many patients felt that they obtained some benefits from complementary medicine. The implementation of complementary medicine services in the clinical oncology departments was to the patients' interest and should be promoted but careful planning is needed due to the high cost and lack of knowledge on CM by patients and doctors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7-16 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | The Hong Kong Radiographers Journal |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 1&2 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2004 |
Keywords
- complementary medicine
- quality of life
- radiotherapy
- Chinese herbal medicine
- WHOQOL-BREF (HK)
