Ga. Moody et al., THE ROLE OF COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE IN EUROPEAN AND ASIAN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE, Public health (London), 112(4), 1998, pp. 269-271
Three hundred and eighty-two patients with known inflammatory bowel di
sease (IBD) (190 European and 192 Asian) and 190 with coeliac disease
were sent a previously validated questionnaire to investigate patients
' use of alternative medicine and their views on its effectiveness. De
tails sought included whether they had ever consulted an alternative p
ractitioner, whether they had followed a course of treatment and its c
linical effects. Information about where patients had heard about such
alternative practitioners and whether they were told to discontinue t
heir current allopathic medication was also sought. Results were analy
sed after three consecutive mailings, including one in Gujurati to Asi
an patients. A randomly selected group was re-interviewed four months
later. To validate the study alternative medicine practitioners were a
lso interviewed to investigate what percentage of their attendees have
IBD and how many of those clients were Asians. One hundred and fifty-
eight questionnaires were returned from European patients with IBD (re
sponse rate = 83%), 145 from patients with coeliac disease (response r
ate=76%) but only 81 Asian patients with IBD (response rate = 42%). Fo
rty-seven European and Asian patients with inflammatory bowel disease
sought advice or treatment from an alternative practitioner, compared
with only 11 with coeliac disease (Chi(2)= 11.64, df= 12, P < 0.003).
There was no significant difference in consultation rates between Asia
n and European patients with LED (Yates corrected Chi(2)= 0.78, ns). T
he most common practitioners consulted by all groups were homeopaths (
n =23) and herbalists (n = 27) but 20 patients consulted more than one
practitioner at a time. Patients with coeliac disease and European pa
tients with IBD had consulted osteopaths (n = 6) and reflexologists (n
= 7). Ten patients with IBD had also attended a spiritualist and five
Asian patients a hakim. Common sources of information about alternati
ve remedies included friends and relatives (n = 13), the media (n = 11
), word of mouth (n = 11) and family practitioners (n = 6). Most patie
nts were advised to continue their current medications, although two h
ad been told to stop and 10 advised to reduce the dose of their allopa
thic medications. Twenty alternative medicine practitioners stated tha
t overall between 2-5% of their attendees have IBD with 10% of those c
lients being Asian. Asians preferred to consult Asian practitioners ra
ther than European practitioners. There was no clear consensus as to w
hether complementary therapies were felt beneficial, although many pat
ients with IBD believed them to be helpful.