| Summary: | 碩士 === 南華大學 === 自然醫學研究所 === 95 === Objective:This study aimed to investigate the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for glycemic control in patients with diabetes. Demography, conditions and duration of morbidity, prevalence and factors associated with the use of CAM, and glycemic control were studied.
Methods: Convenient sampling method was used to recruit participants from outpatients with diabetes in the department of endocrinology and metabolism in a regional teaching hospital in south Taiwan. Structured questionnaires were administered to the participants using face-to-face interview.
Results: Of the 221 participants, 47.5% had used CAM and 52.5% had never used it. For use of CAM over the past year, 24.4% of the participants used CAM over the past year and 75.6% of them did not use it over the past year. Results from backward stepwise multiple logistic regression indicated that (1) duration of diabetes was directly associated with the use of CAM (duration >10 & �T15 years, odds ratio=2.56,95%CI=1.17-5.57; duration> 15 & �T20 years, odds ratio=2.98, 95%CI=1.18-7.53; and duration >20 years, odds ratio=3.12, 95%CI=1.26-7.69; compared to duration >1 & �T5 years); (2) using all three diet control, exercise, and medications treatment modalities was directly associated with the use of CAM in participants who used CAM in the past year (odds ratio=2.01, 95%CI= 1.05-3.87) compared to those who used only one or two of the three modalities; (3) receiving diabetes education from only one or two of the three information sources of diabetes educators (nurses , dieticians, and physicians) was directly associated with the use of CAM in participants who had ever used CAM and still used CAM in the past year and those who first used CAM in the past year (odds ratio=7.58, 95%CI=1.88-30.67) compared to those who received diabetes education from all three sources. (4) none of the other factors including demography, type of diabetes, the number of
complications, participation in the medical improvement project were significantly associated with the use of CAM. Results from chi-square test and t-test indicated that change in HbA1c was not associated with the use of CAM regardless whether HbA1c was categorized into two, three, five groups, and mean values.
Conclusion: The prevalence of CAM use for diabetes management was high (24.4%) in this study compared with those reported in international studies. The use of CAM was not associated with glycemic control in patients with diabetes. The use of CAM was significantly associated with the duration of diabetes over 10 years, using all three modalities of treatment for diabetes (diet control, exercise, and medications), and not receiving all three information sources of diabetes educators (nurses, dieticians, and physicians).
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