ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2011
Integrated medicine in the management of chronic illness: a qualitative study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Breathing exercises for children with asthma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Process of care in outpatient Integrative healthcare facilities: a systematic review of clinical trials.BMC health services research · 2015Pooled it
- Patient Satisfaction with Advanced Medical Technology-Based Treatments in Integrative Medicine: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach Among Patients with Chronic Diseases.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Promising Approach to Psoriasis Vulgaris Management with N-Acetylcysteine and Vitamin E: Targeting the Interplay of Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Breath of relief: Transforming pediatric asthma care with telemedicine-guided exercises.Clinical and translational allergy · 2025Article
- Patients' experiences of breathing retraining for asthma: a qualitative process analysis of participants in the intervention arms of the BREATHE trial.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2017Article
- Perspectives on healthcare, chronic non-communicable disease, and healthworlds in an urban and rural setting.Global health action · 2014Article
- Patients' perceptions of the potential of breathing training for asthma: a qualitative study.Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group · 2013Article
- Individualised medicine from the perspectives of patients using complementary therapies: a meta-ethnography approach.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2013Article
- Integrated medicine.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Article
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6 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundComplementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular with patients, yet how patients use CAM in relation to orthodox medicine (OM) is poorly understood.
aimTo explore how patients integrate CAM and OM when self-managing chronic illness. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative analysis of interviews.
methodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals attending private CAM practices in the UK, who had had a chronic benign condition for 12 months and were using CAM alongside OM for more than 3 months. Patients were selected to create a maximum variation sample. The interviews were analysed using framework analysis.
resultsThirty five patient interviews were conducted and seven categories of use were identified: using CAM to facilitate OM use; using OM to support long-term CAM use; using CAM to reduce OM; using CAM to avoid OM; using CAM to replace OM; maximising relief using both CAM and OM; and returning to OM. Participants described initiating CAM use following a perceived lack of suitable orthodox treatment. Participants rejecting OM for a specific condition never totally rejected OM in favour of CAM.
conclusionPatients utilise CAM and OM in identifiably different ways, individualising and integrating both approaches to manage their chronic conditions. To support patients and prevent potential adverse interactions, open dialogue between patients, OM practitioners, and CAM practitioners must be improved.
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