Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

What factors can influence cancer patients’ Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use during anti-cancer treatment? (#345)

Ellen Jones 1 , Lisa Nissen 2 , Carol Windsor 3 , Kathryn Steadman 4 , Alexandra McCarthy 5
  1. Redcliffe Hospital, Redcliffe, QLD, Australia
  2. Faculty of Health, School of Clinical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  3. Faculty of Health, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  4. School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  5. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Aims

To explore which factors, including age, gender, and treatment intent, may influence cancer patients’ CAM use during anti-cancer treatment.

Methods

A retrospective study was undertaken from 1st January to 31st January 2017, comparing patients’ CAM use documented in medication charts by doctors with the medication lists as recorded by the pharmacists. The review time period ensured the group represented typical patients irrespective of the treatment intent (curative or palliative) or type of cancer treatment involved (intravenous, oral, or a combination of all). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The normality of the data and the comparisons between different variables were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23).

Results

171 patients were reviewed with 86 patients identified with CAM use. The mean age was 67.3 years (SD=12.2), 65.1% (56/86) were female, 29% (25/86) and 71% (61/86) received curative and palliative treatment respectively. Vitamins/minerals were the most used CAM. There was a weak correlation between the number of CAM treatments used and age group, gender and treatment intent (rs=0.106 vs. rs= -0.140 vs. rs = 0.099 respectively). However, no statistically significant associations between the number of CAM used and age group, gender and treatment intent (age group x2(16)=12.843, p=0.684; gender x2(8)=11.254, p=0.188; or treatment intent x2(8)=8.604, p=0.377) was found.

Conclusions

Cancer patients may be on multiple medications for their anti-cancer treatment. The potential interactions with CAM medications can be challenging to predict and prioritize. While no clear association with age, gender, or treatment intent was observed within this review, there should be further investigation of patients’ preferences and reasons for choosing CAM to help guide treatment planning and education.