Exclusive use of alternative medicine as a positive choice: a qualitative study of treatment assumptions among people with multiple sclerosis in denmark.

Lasse Skovgaard, Inge Kryger Pedersen, Marja Verhoef

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in International journal of MS care, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

5citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

'It struck at the heart of who I thought I was': A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature examining the experiences of people with multiple sclerosis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020
Review
"Then I went to a hospital abroad": acknowledging implications of stakeholders' differing risk understandings related to use of complementary and alternative medicine in European health care contexts.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2019
Article
Use of herbal remedies by multiple sclerosis patients: a nation-wide survey in Italy.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2016
Observational
Use of bodily sensations as a risk assessment tool: exploring people with Multiple Sclerosis' views on risks of negative interactions between herbal medicine and conventional drug therapies.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2014
Article
Reasons for Engaging in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Highly Educated Women With Multiple Sclerosis.International journal of MS care
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Lasse SkovgaardDanish MS Society, Valby, Denmark, and the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (LS); the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (IKP); and NAFKAM, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway (MV).

Inge Kryger PedersenDanish MS Society, Valby, Denmark, and the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (LS); the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (IKP); and NAFKAM, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway (MV).

Marja VerhoefDanish MS Society, Valby, Denmark, and the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (LS); the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (IKP); and NAFKAM, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway (MV).

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA survey of members of the Danish MS Society revealed that a minority of MS patients choose to forgo all types of conventional treatment and use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) exclusively. A qualitative follow-up study was performed to elucidate the choice of exclusive CAM use by exploring treatment assumptions among a group of exclusive CAM users.

methodsThe study was based on a phenomenological approach. Semistructured in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 participants, using program theory as an analytical tool, and emerging themes were extracted from the data through meaning condensation.

resultsFour themes characterized the participants' treatment assumptions: 1) conventional medicine contains chemical substances that affect the body in negative ways; 2) CAM treatments can strengthen the organism and make it more capable of resisting the impact of MS; 3) the patient's active participation is an important component of the healing process; 4) bodily sensations can be used to guide treatment selection.

conclusionsExclusive use of CAM by MS patients may reflect embracing CAM rather than a rejection of conventional medicine. Health-care practitioners, patient organizations, and health authorities within the MS field should be aware of possible changes in patients' attitudes toward both CAM and conventional treatment interventions.

Identifiers

PMID25337054

DOI10.7224/1537-2073.2013-010

PMCPMC4204372

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.