Why do diabetic patients use complementary and alternative medicine?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the trends for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by diabetic patients and to identify the characteristics of these patients. The subjects included 800 type 2 diabetic outpatients from four hospitals and two clinics. A written questionnaire was conducted, and the valid response rate was 39.6%. Approximately 30% of the patients used CAM at the present or in the past. The most commonly used CAM was health food/drinks and the major aims for using CAM were to lower the blood glucose level and to maintain/improve general health condition. The following psychosocial predictors were identified by a stepwise logistic regression analysis: 1) gender (female) (odds ratio = OR 2.37

type 2 diabetes mellitus

complementary and alternative medicine

conventional medicine

predictors

psychosocial factors