Low level of quality of life in patients with mental and behavioral disorders wanting complementary and alternative (kampo) therapy

Objective To compare the quality of life (QOL) in patients with and without mental and behavioral disorders wanting to receive kampo, a type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), we investigated the QOL of patients using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). Methods Seven hundred and twenty-nine outpatients with various diseases or disorders wanting to receive kampo therapy were recruited in the study. Two hundred and ninety-four patients (F-group) had mental or behavioral disorders. For these 729 patients, QOL was rated on the WHOQOL-BREF Japanese version. Results The average WHOQOL-BREF score of F-group (2.93 +/- .54) was significantly lower than that of controls (3.23 +/- .53). Especially, the average WHOQOL-BREF score of the 135 patients who had already been treated with modern medicines and wanted to be treated with kampo formulas to augment modern medicines (2.77 +/- .55) was significantly lower than that of other patients. Conclusion QOL in patients with mental and behavioral disorders wanting to be treated with kampo who had already been treated with modern medicines was lower than that in patients with general medical conditions or with mental or behavioral disorders not treated with modern medicine.