ArticleBMC psychiatry2019
Complementary and alternative medicine use in adults with autism spectrum disorder in Germany: results from a multi-center survey.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of L-Carnosine as adjunctive therapy in the management of children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled study.Amino acids · 2020Trial
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Attending Five Autism Centres in Arab Countries: Associations with Sociodemographic Factors and Health Literacy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Perspective of adults in Saudi Arabia toward complementary and alternative medicine use for autism spectrum disorder: a cross-sectional study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Article
- How UK health care professionals conceptualise parental experiences of the diagnostic process for autism spectrum disorder: A qualitative study.SAGE open medicine · 2021Article
- Complementary medicine in orthopaedic and trauma surgery: a cross-sectional survey on usage and needs.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Prevalence and Pattern of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Tamil Nadu.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2020Article
- Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation in Early Life Changes Synaptic Plasticity and Improves Symptoms in a Valproic Acid-Induced Rat Model of Autism.Neural plasticity · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundComplementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is widely used both in the general population and for the treatment of somatic and psychiatric disorders. Studies on CAM use among patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have so far only focused on children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of CAM use among adults with ASD.
methodsA questionnaire survey concerning current and lifetime use of CAM was distributed to adults with ASD between November 2015 and June 2016. Participants diagnosed by experienced clinicians using the current diagnostic gold standard were recruited from four ASD outpatient clinics in Germany. Questionnaire data was then linked to supplementary clinical data.
resultsThe final sample consisted of 192 adults (response: 26.8%) with a mean age of 31.5 years (80% male; diagnoses: Asperger's syndrome (58%), childhood autism (27%), atypical autism (12%)). 45% of the respondents stated that they were currently using or had used at least one CAM modality in their life. Among the participants with lifetime CAM use, almost half had used two or more different types of CAM. Alternative medical systems (e.g. homeopathy, acupuncture) were most frequently used, followed by mind-body interventions (e.g. yoga, biofeedback, animal assisted therapy). Overall, 20% of respondents stated that they would like to try at least one listed CAM modality in the future.
conclusionsThis is the first study on CAM use in adults with ASD, demonstrating considerable CAM use in this population. Given the popularity of CAM, patients should be informed about the effectiveness and potentially dangerous side effects of CAM treatments, as evidence for the majority of CAM methods in ASD is still limited.
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