The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
Mellitus: Community Based Survey

Moon, Su-jeong; Baek, Seung-min; Park, Jeong-hwan; Lee, Sang-hun; Seo, Hyun-ju; Kim, Sul-gi; Lee, Min-hee; Jeong, Ji-hoon; Choi, Sun-mi

The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine > Volume 33(3); 2012 > Article

Original Article

The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine 2012;33(3): 317-326.

지역사회 기반 당뇨병 환자의 보완대체요법 이용 실태조사

문수정¹, 백승민¹, 박정환¹, 이상훈¹, 서현주², 김슬기^1,3, 이민희¹, 정지훈⁴, 최선미¹

¹한국한의학연구원 침구경락연구그룹
²조선대학교 의과대학 간호학과
³원광대학교 한의과대학 침구의학교실
⁴충남대학교 통계학과

The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Community Based Survey

Su-jeong Moon¹, Seung-min Baek¹, Jeong-hwan Park¹, Sang-hun Lee¹, Hyun-ju Seo², Sul-gi Kim^1,3, Min-hee Lee¹, Ji-hoon Jeong⁴, Sun-mi Choi¹

¹Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Group, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine
²Dept. of Nursing, College of Medicine, Cho-Sun University
³Dept. of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, College of Oriental Medicine, Won-Kwang University
⁴Dept. of Information and Statistics, Chung-Nam National University

Correspondence

Sun-mi Choi ,Tel: 042-868-9485, Fax: 042-863-9464, Email: smchoi@kiom.re.kr

Published online: September 30, 2012.

ABSTRACT

Objectives:
To investigate the prevalence and utilization pattern of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Methods :
We conducted a nationwide survey and a total of 535 individuals with type 2 diabetes were asked about their demographic, diabetes-related characteristics and CAM use. We used multiple logistic regression modeling to determine independent predictors of CAM use.

Results:
Of the 535 subjects, 417 (77.9%) used CAM in last 12 months. The most commonly used modality was red ginseng (17.9%). CAM use was independently associated with being married, northern area residence, higher education and diabetes duration of 3-5 years. More than half(58.3%) of the CAM users used it expecting a better outcome in addition to conventional therapy. Information sources about CAM were mostly friends (36.0%) and family (31.9%), only 28.1% of diabetic patients seek counsel from medical doctors or oriental medical doctors about CAM. Many people perceived CAM as effective (62.7%) and reported side effects only rarely (1.2%).

Conclusions:
Many diabetic patients used CAM and found it effective, which urges clinicians to pay attention to CAM use of their diabetic patients. Also, further studies are required regarding efficacy and safety about CAM.

Key words: Diabetes mellitus, complementary and alternative medicine