ArticlePloS one2015
Quality of Life in CAM and Non-CAM Users among Breast Cancer Patients during Chemotherapy in Malaysia.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients in Asia: A meta-analysis and systematic review.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Health-related quality of life in Asian patients with breast cancer: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2018Pooled it
- Longitudinal association of physical activity with quality of life domains among malaysian breast cancer survivors.BMC women's health · 2026Article
- Utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by women with breast cancer or gynecological cancer.PloS one · 2023Article
- Quality of life in terminally ill cancer patients: what is the role of using complementary and alternative medicines?Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Article
- Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life and Distress in an Asian Community-Based Cancer Rehabilitation Program.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2022Observational
- Effectiveness of Fucoidan on Supplemental Therapy in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Predictors of health-related quality of life after completion of chemotherapy among Malaysian early-stage breast cancer survivors.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Article
- Quality of life of women with breast cancer in a tertiary referral university hospital.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2022Article
- Longitudinal change of quality of life in the first five years of survival among disease-free Chinese breast cancer survivors.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Article
- Understanding the Financial Needs Following Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in a Setting with Universal Health Coverage.The oncologist · 2020Article
- Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients in Malaysia: An Early Report From the MyBCC Study.Integrative cancer therapies · 2018Article
- Quality of life and complementary and alternative medicine use among women with breast cancer.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2018Article
- Article
- Quality of Life and Its Association with Physical Activity among Different Types of Cancer Survivors.PloS one · 2016Article
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Its Association with Quality of Life among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2016Article
- Anxiety, depression, perceived social support and quality of life in Malaysian breast cancer patients: a 1-year prospective study.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundComplementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has become increasingly popular among patients with cancer. The purposes of this study were to compare the QOL in CAM users and non-CAM users and to determine whether CAM use influences QOL among breast cancer patients during chemotherapy. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at two outpatient chemotherapy centers. A total of 546 patients completed the questionnaires on CAM use. QOL was evaluated based on the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) core quality of life (QLQ-C30) and breast cancer-specific quality of life (QLQ-BR23) questionnaires.
resultsA total of 70.7% of patients were identified as CAM users. There was no significant difference in global health status scores and in all five subscales of the QLQ C30 functional scales between CAM users and non-CAM users. On the QLQ-C30 symptom scales, CAM users (44.96±3.89) had significantly (p = 0.01) higher mean scores for financial difficulties than non-CAM users (36.29±4.81). On the QLQ-BR23 functional scales, CAM users reported significantly higher mean scores for sexual enjoyment (6.01±12.84 vs. 4.64±12.76, p = 0.04) than non-CAM users. On the QLQ-BR23 symptom scales, CAM users reported higher systemic therapy side effects (41.34±2.01 vs. 37.22±2.48, p = 0.04) and breast symptoms (15.76±2.13 vs. 11.08±2.62, p = 0.02) than non-CAM users. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the use of CAM modality was not significantly associated with higher global health status scores (p = 0.71).
conclusionWhile the findings indicated that there was no significant difference between users and non-users of CAM in terms of QOL, CAM may be used by health professionals as a surrogate to monitor patients with higher systemic therapy side effects and breast symptoms. Furthermore, given that CAM users reported higher financial burdens (which may have contributed to increased distress), patients should be encouraged to discuss the potential benefits and/or disadvantages of using CAM with their healthcare providers.
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