Role of religiosity and spirituality in complementary and alternative medicine use among cancer survivors in California.

OBJECTIVES: Cancer survivors often turn to religion, spirituality, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) because they perceive these areas as being more holistic and patient-centered than conventional medicine. Because increased religiosity and spirituality have been found to be associated with higher CAM use in the general population, it was hypothesized that these factors would be important predictors of CAM use in cancer survivors. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: The study included a subsample of 1844 people with cancer or a history of cancer from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey of CAM, a cross-sectional survey of a population-based sample of adults in California. Prevalence and predictors of religious/spiritual forms of CAM (R/S CAM) and nonreligious/nonspiritual forms of CAM (non-R/S CAM) were compared. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of R/S CAM and non-R/S CAM. RESULTS: Nearly two thirds of participants reported using at least 1 type of R/S CAM, and 85% reported ever using non-R/S CAM. The majority of cancer survivors reported that they were very/moderately religious or spiritual. Both religiosity and spirituality were strongly related to non-R/S CAM use, but in opposite directions. Very or moderately religious cancer survivors were less likely (odds ratio=0.30; 95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.40) than nonreligious cancer survivors to use non-R/S CAM. In contrast, very or moderately spiritual cancer survivors were more likely (odds ratio=2.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-6.02) than nonspiritual cancer survivors to use non-R/S CAM. CONCLUSIONS: The use of R/S CAM and non-R/S CAM is very high in cancer survivors. It may be helpful for clinicians to ascertain their patients' use of these types of CAM to integrate all forms of care used to managing their cancer.

Dietary supplement use in individuals living with cancer and other chronic conditions: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Cancer survivors are increasingly turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to manage short- and long-term treatment sequelae. Population-based data on relative use of dietary supplements among cancer survivors compared to those without a cancer history is lacking. Our objective was to compare supplement use among those with and without cancer and among those with and without other chronic conditions, and to identify correlates of supplement use by cancer status. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, population-based survey of participants in the 2003 CAM supplement to the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. SUBJECTS: Participants reporting a cancer diagnosis on the 2001 California Health Interview Survey or newly reported diagnosis on the 2003 survey (n=1,844) plus a random oversampling of racial/ethnic minorities (n=7,343). MEASURES: Self-reported use of a multivitamin and 27 vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other natural products during the preceding 12 months. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Logistic regression analyses were performed with control for potential confounders. RESULTS: Adults with cancer or other chronic conditions had higher prevalence of supplement use than those reporting no illness. The independent effect of cancer was associated with vitamin use, whereas living with other chronic conditions was associated with all types of supplement use, except multivitamins. Correlates of supplement use were similar between cancer survivors and cancer-free individuals-being a woman, advancing age, and greater physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and other CAM use. Among cancer survivors, non-Hispanic whites had the lowest prevalence of herbal supplement use. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that having a chronic medical condition is the major factor associated with supplement use. A diagnosis of cancer, by itself, does not have an independent effect on supplement use. This suggests that most supplement use among cancer survivors is directed at dealing with or preventing the exacerbation of a comorbid condition. Consumers and health professionals should be aware that there is limited information on the effects of dietary supplements taken concurrently with prescription and other over-the-counter medications.

Religious and spiritual practices and identification among individuals living with cancer and other chronic disease.

Religion and spirituality in the context of health care are poorly understood, particularly for individuals with chronic illness. Using data from the 2003 Complementary and Alternative Medicine supplement to the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, we examined whether cancer survivors (n = 1,777) and individuals with other chronic illnesses (n = 4,784) were either more likely to identify themselves as religious and spiritual or more likely to use religious and spiritual practices for health purposes than individuals with no disease (n = 2,342). We observed that cancer survivors and individuals with chronic illnesses were more likely than those with no disease to use religious and spiritual prayer and healing practices. Individuals with chronic diseases were not inherently more likely to identify themselves as religious than were healthy individuals and were only slightly more likely to identify themselves as spiritual. These findings indicate that individuals with cancer and other chronic illnesses may be using religious and spiritual practices as a way to cope with their illness. Future research should continue to examine whether and how religious and spiritual practices are used as complementary or alternative medicine, and health care professionals should ask their patients about such use.