Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36732781›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2023

Terminally ill patients' and their relatives' experiences and behaviors regarding complementary and alternative medicine utilization in hospice palliative inpatient care units: a cross-sectional, multicenter survey.

Yu-Jia Lin, Hsiao-Ting Chang, Ming-Hwai Lin, Ru-Yih Chen, Ping-Jen Chen, Wen-Yuan Lin, Jyh-Gang Hsieh, Ying-Wei Wang, Chung-Chieh Hu, Yi-Sheng Liou and 6 more

Open access · goldAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Palliative medicine · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
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

16 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.

Yu-Jia LinDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hsiao-Ting ChangDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. htchang.tw@gmail.com.
Ming-Hwai LinDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ru-Yih ChenDepartment of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Ping-Jen ChenKaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Wen-Yuan LinDepartment of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Jyh-Gang HsiehDepartment of Family Medicine, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan.
Ying-Wei WangDepartment of Family Medicine, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan.
Chung-Chieh HuDepartment of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yi-Sheng LiouDepartment of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Tai-Yuan ChiuDepartment of Family Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chun-Yi TuDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taoyuan Branch, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Bo-Ren ChengDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tzeng-Ji ChenDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Fang-Pey ChenCenter for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Shinn-Jang HwangDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Taipei Veterans General Hospital · TWHualien Tzu Chi Medical Center · TWNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University · TWTaichung Veterans General Hospital · TWChina Medical University Hospital · TWKaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital · TWKaohsiung Veterans General Hospital · TWNational Defense Medical Center · TWNational Taiwan University Hospital · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTerminally ill patients often experience exacerbations of diseases that render mainstream medicine ineffective in relieving symptoms, prompting attempts at complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study collected data from terminally ill patients and their relatives to determine differences between CAM use, behavioral patterns, and perceptions of health information about CAM.

methodsA cross-sectional design using a self-administered questionnaire was adopted. Eight medical institutions in Taiwan with inpatient hospice palliative care units were chosen. Ninety-two terminally ill patients and 267 relatives met the inclusion criteria. The questions concerned the experience of CAM use, the kinds of products/services CAM provided, the purpose of CAM use, the source of CAM information, and the perceptions and attitudes toward CAM.

resultsBoth terminally ill patients and their relatives have a high proportion of lifetime and one-year prevalence of CAM use (88.0% vs. 88.4%; p = 0.929). CAM use for musculoskeletal and neurological discomfort is higher among terminally ill patients than among their relatives. Relatives/friends are the most frequent sources of information on CAM (53.3% vs. 62.2%; p = 0.133). The percentage of terminally ill patients who discontinued mainstream medical treatment because of CAM use was higher than that of their relatives (18.5% vs. 9.3%; p = 0.026). More than half the terminally ill patients and their relatives had never been asked about CAM by medical staff (64.1% vs. 66.7%), nor had they informed medical professionals about the use of CAM products and services (63% vs. 66.9%). Random inquiries by medical professionals may be associated with increased disclosure of CAM use (terminally ill patients: odds ratio, 9.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.97-48.35 vs. relatives: odds ratio, 5.61; 95% confidence interval, 2.66-11.83).

conclusionsThe high prevalence and concealment of CAM use in terminally ill patients should be considered. Medical professionals should establish a friendly and barrier-free communication model, encourage patients to share CAM experiences, and provide evidence-based information on the use of CAM products and services, to reduce the potential damage caused by harmful use.

Indexed as

Complementary TherapiesHospicesCross-Sectional StudiesHumansInpatientsTerminally IllAlternative medicineBehaviorCommunicationComplementary medicineExperiencePalliative careTerminally ill

Identifiers

PMID36732781
PMCPMC9893550
OpenAlexW4318985149

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.