Prevalence and pattern of usage of complementary and alternative medicine among south Indian asthma patients in a tertiary care hospital

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of CAM users among asthmatic patients in a tertiary care South Indian hospital. Methods: Prospective, cross sectional study was conducted in 394 asthmatic patients. Results: 30.4% of the patients used CAM therapies. The most commonly used CAM treatment was herbal medicine followed by pranayama (controlled breathing exercises). Most of the CAM users were found to be in lower middle class. The baseline characteristics of the CAM users and the non CAM users were found to be similar except for education and socioeconomic status (p < .008). Among the CAM users, none of the patients disclosed about their CAM treatment to their pulmonologists. Conclusion: Patients must be educated about CAM therapies and they must be advised to discuss all their treatment related issues with treating clinicians. Healthcare professionals should be familiar with the merits and demerits of using CAM therapy so that they could provide proper guidance to their patients. (c) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.