Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T22:32:10.374Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The diffusion and the reason for the use of complementary and alternative medicine among users of mental health services: a systematic review of literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2011

Nadia Pellegrini  and
Mirella Ruggeri
Nadia Pellegrini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina e Sanità Pubblica, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation
Mirella Ruggeri*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina e Sanità Pubblica, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation
*
Address for correspondence: Professor M. Ruggeri, Dipartimento di Medicina e Sanità Pubblica, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Policlinico “G.B. Rossi”, Piazzale L.A. Scuro 10, 37134 Verona. Fax: -39-045-585871 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Aims - A systematic review of the studies on use of alternative and complementary medicine by mental health services' users to investigate the prevalence and motivations of CAM used to treat mental disorders. Methods - This paper shows a part of the results of a literature review, limited to studies between 1966 and 2005, was carried out using Ovid Medline, PsycINFO and EBM Reviews databases. This was supplemented by hand searching of reference lists. Results - Ninety-one studies on CAM's use by psychiatric patients were analyzed. In this paper the twenty-five articles about the CAM's prevalence and use's motivations are described. The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) varies across countries: data suggest that from 50% to 80% of people suffering of mental disorders use CAM. Heterogeneous methods, samples and results characterizing the studies make generalizations results difficult. Patients motivations of CAM's use were poorly investigated by research, however it seems that persons affected by mental disorders use MAC prevalently because they are dissatisfied with conventional medicine and/or because these alternatives approaches are congruent with their own values, beliefs and philosophical orientation toward health care. Conclusions - The review emphasize the importance of a best physicians' education and information about CAM to improve the management of non-conventional and orthodox medicine relationship. The motivations of CAM's use underline the relevance of patient's holistic conception and the therapeutic role of a patient-physician relationship based on emphaty. Besides it seems important to investigate furtherly patients' psychological and social aspects that influence their choise to use CAM.

Keywords

complementary therapymental disordersmotivationincidence.
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2007 , pp. 35 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliografia

Angell, M. & Kassirer, J. 1998. Alternative medicine - the risks of untested and unregulated remedies. New England Journal of Medicine 339, 839–841.Google Scholar
Alderman, C.P. & Kiepfer, B. 2003. Complementary medicine use by psychiatry patients of an Australian hospital. Annals of Pharmacotherapy 37, 1779–1784.Google Scholar
Astin, J.A. 1998. Why patients use alternative medicine? Result of a national study. Journal of American Medical Association 279, 1548–1555.Google Scholar
Barnes, J., Abbot, N.C., Harkness, E.F. & Ernst, E. 1999. Articles on the complementary medicine in the mainstream medical literature: an investigation of Medline, 1966 through 1996. Archives of Internal Medicine 159, 1721–1725.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barry, M. & Crosby, C. 1996. Quality of life as an evaluative measure in assessing the impact of community care on people with long-term psychiatric disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 168, 210–216.Google Scholar
Blais, R., Maiga, A. & Aboubacar, A. 1997. How different are users and non-users of alternative medicine? Canadian Journal of Public Health 88 3, 159–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beyerstein, B. 1997. Alternative medicine: where's the evidence? Canadian Journal of Public Health 88, 149–152.Google Scholar
Brekke, J.S., Levin, S., Wolkon, G.H., Sobel, E. & Slade, E. 1993. Psychosocial functioning and subjective experience in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 19 3, 599–608.Google Scholar
Campion, E. 1993. Why unconventional medicine? New England Journal of Medicine 328, 282–283.Google Scholar
Carrigan, J.T. 1994. The psychosocial need of patients who have attempted suicide by overdose. Journal of Advanced Nursing 20, 635–642.Google Scholar
Collinge, W., Wentworth, R. & Sabo, S. 2005. Integrating complementary therapies into community mental health practice: an exploration. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 11 3, 569–574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davidoff, F. 1998. Weighing the alternatives: lessons from the paradoxes of alternative medicine. Annals of Internal Medicine 129, 1068–1070.Google ScholarPubMed
Demling, J.H., Neubauer, H.J. & Worthmuller, M. 2002. A survey on psychiatric patients' use of non-medical alternative practitioners: incidence, methods, estimation, and satisfaction. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 10 4, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Smet, P.A.G.M., Keller, K., Hansel, R. & Chandler, R. 1997. Adverse Effects of Herbal Drugs, vol. 3 Springer-Verlag: New York.Google Scholar
Downer, S.M., Cody, M.M. & Mccluskey, P. 1994. Pursuit practice of complementary therapies by cancer patients receiving conventional treatment. British Medical Journal 309, 86–89.Google Scholar
Doyle, M., Flanagan, S., Browne, S., Clarke, M., Lydon, D., Larkin, C. & O'Callaghan, E. 1999. Subjective and external assessments of quality of life in schizophrenia: relationship to insight. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 99, 466–472.Google Scholar
Druss, B. & Rosenheck, R. 1999. Association between use of unconventional therapies and conventional medical services. Journal of the American Medical Association 282, 651–656.Google Scholar
Druss, B. & Rosenheck, R. 2000. Use of practitioner-based complementary therapies by persons reporting mental conditions in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry 57, 708–714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Druss, B., Rohrbaugh, R., Kosten, T., Hoff, R. & Rosenheck, R. 1998. Use of alternative medicine in major depression. Psychiatric Services 49 11, 1397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, D.M., Kessler, R.C., Foster, C., Norlock, F.E., Calkins, D.R. & Delbanco, T.L. 1993. Unconventional medicine in the United States. Prevalence, costs and patterns of use. New England Journal of Medicine 328, 246–252.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, D.M., Davis, R.B. & Ettner, S.L. 1998. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997: results of a follow-up national survey. Journal of the American Medical Association 280, 1569–1575.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, D.M., Kessler, R.C., Van Rompay, M.I., Kaptchuk, T.J., Wilkey, S.A., Appel, S. & Davis, R.B. 2001. Perceptions about complementary therapies relative to conventional therapies among adults who use both: results from a national survey. Annals of Internal Medicine 135, 344–351.Google Scholar
Elkins, G., Rajab, H. & Marcus, J. 2005. Complemetnary and alternative medicine use by psychiatric inpatients. Psychological Reports 96, 163–166.Google Scholar
Ernst, E. (2000a). The role of complementary and alternative medicine. British Medical Journal 321, 1133–1135.Google Scholar
Ernst, E. (2000b). Prevalence of use of complementary/alternative medicine: a systematic review. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 78 2, 252–256.Google ScholarPubMed
Ernst, E., Resch, K.L., Mills, S., Hill, R., Mitchell, A. & Willoughby, M. 1995. Complementary medicine - A definition. British General Practice 45, 506.Google Scholar
Fisher, P. & Ward, A. 1994. Complementary medicine in Europe. British Medical Journal 309, 107–111.Google Scholar
Furnham, A. & Smith, C. 1988. Choosing alternative medicine: a comparison of the beliefs of patients visiting a general practitioner and a homoeopath. Social Science & Medicine 26 7, 685–689.Google Scholar
Gibbons, C., Bedard, M. & Mack, G. 2005. A comparison of client and mental health worker assessment of needs and unmet needs. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 32, 95–104.Google Scholar
Honda, K. & Jacobson, J. 2005. Use of complementary and alternative medicine among United States adults: the influence of personality, coping strategies and social support. Alternative Therapies in Health Medicine 11 1, 42–49.Google Scholar
Issakidis, C. & Teesson, M. 1999. Measurement of need for care: a trial of the Camberwell Assessment of Need and the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33, 754–759.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelstrup, A., Lund, K., Lauritsen, B. & Bech, P. 1993. Satisfaction with care reported by psychiatric inpatients Relationship to diagnosis and medical treatment. ActaPsychiatrica Scandinavica 87, 374–379.Google Scholar
Kessler, R., Soukup, J., Davis, R., Foster, D., Wilkey, S., Van Rompay, M. & Eisenberg, D. 2001. The use of complementary and alternativetherapies to treat anxiety and depression in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry 158 2, 289–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knaudt, P.R., Connor, K.M., Weisler, R.H., Churchill, L.E. & Davidson, J.R.T. 1998. Alternative therapy use in psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Nervous Mental Disease 187, 692–695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koivumaa-Honkanen, H.T., Honkanen, R., Antikainen, R., Hintikka, J. & Viinamaki, H. 1999. Self-reported life satisfaction in patients with schizophrenia, major depression and anxiety disorder. Acta Psichiatrica Scandinavica 99, 377–384.Google Scholar
Kruszkowski, M., Malti, T. & Modestin, J. 2003. Use of alternative therapy by psychiatric inpatients. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice 7 3, 161–166.Google Scholar
Lasalvia, A., Ruggeri, M., Mazzi, M.A. & Dall'Agnola, R.B. 2000. The perception of needs of care in staffs and patients in communitybased mental health services. The South-Verona Outcome Project 3. Acta Psichiatrica Scandinavica 102, 366–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Letendre, R. 1997. The everyday experience of psychiatric hospitalization: the users' viewpoint. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 43 4, 285–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Long, A.F., Mercer, G. & Hughes, K. 2000. Developing a tool to measure holistic practice: a missing dimension in outcomes measurement within complementary therapies. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 8, 26–31.Google Scholar
Long, L., Huntley, A. & Ernst, E. 2001. Which complementary and alternative therapies benefit which conditions? A survey of the opinions of 23 professional organizations. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 9, 178–185.Google Scholar
Mcnair, B.G., Highet, N.J., Hickie, I.B. & Devenport, T.A. 2002. Exploring the perspectives of people whose lives have been affected by depression. Medical Journal of Australia 176, 69–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Menniti-Ippolito, F., Gargiulo, L., Bologna, E., Forcella, E. & Raschetti, R. 2002. Use of unconventional medicine in Italy: a nation-wide survey. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 58, 61–64.Google Scholar
Morgan, D.G. 1999. Please see and advise: a qualitative study of patients' experiences of psychiatric outpatient care. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 34, 442–450.Google Scholar
Murray, R.H. & Rubel, A.J. 1992. Physicians and healers - unwitting partners in health care. New England Journal of Medicine 326, 61–64.Google Scholar
Nielsen, J., Hansen, M.S. & Fink, P. 2003. Use of complementary thearapy among internal medical inpatients. Prevalence, costs and association with mental disorders and physical diseases. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 55, 547–552.Google Scholar
Parslow, R.A. & Jorm, A.F. 2004. Use of prescription medications and complementary and alternative medicines to treat depressive and anxiety symptoms: results from a community sample. Journal of Affective Disorders 82, 77–84.Google Scholar
Pellegrini, N. & Ruggeri, M. (submitted for publication). L'efficacia delle medicine alternative e complementari nella terapia dei disturbi psichici: una revisione della letteratura.Google Scholar
Redvers, A., Laugharne, R., Kanagaratnam, G. & Srinivasan, G. 2001. How many patients self-medicate with St. John'wort? Psychiatric Bulletin 25, 254–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rickhi, B., Quan, H., Moritz, S., Stuart, H.L. & Arboleda-Florenz, J. 2003. Mental disorders and reasons for using complementary therapy. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 48 7, 475–479.Google Scholar
Rose, D., Wykes, T., Leese, M., Bindman, J. & Fleischmann, P. 2003. Patient's perspective on electroconvulsive therapy: systematic review. British Medical Journal 326, 1363–1367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruggeri, M. 2002. Feasibility, usefulness, limitations and perspectives of routine outcome assessment: the South-Verona Outcome Project. Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale 11, 177–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruggeri, M. & Tansella, M. 1996. Individual patient outcomes. In Mental Health Service Evaluation (ed. Knudsen, H.C. and Thornicroft, G.), pp. 281–295. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ruggeri, M., Lasalvia, A., Bisoffi, G., Thornicroft, G., Vazquez-Barquero, J.L., Becker, T., Knapp, M., Knudsen, E.C., Schene, A. & Tansella, M. 2003. Satisfaction with mental health services among people sites: results from the EPSILON study. Schizophrenia Bulletin 29 2, 229–245.Google Scholar
Ruggeri, M., Bisoffi, G., Lasalvia, A., Ammadeo, F., Bonetto, C. & Biggeri, A. (2004a). A longitudinal evaluation of two-year outcome in a community-based mental health service using graphical chain models. The South-Verona Outcome Project 9. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 13, 10–23.Google Scholar
Ruggeri, M., Lasalvia, A., Tansella, M., Bonetto, C., Abate, M., Thornicroft, G., Allevi, L. & Ognibene, P. (2004b). Heterogeneity of outcomes in schizophrenia. 3-year follow-up of treated prevalent cases. British Journal of Psychiatry 184, 48–57.Google Scholar
Russinova, Z., Wewiorski, N.J. & Cash, D. 2002. Use of alternative health care practices by person with serious mental illness: perceived benefits. American Journal of Public Health 92 10, 1600–1603.Google Scholar
Schaar, I. & Ojehagen, A. 2003. Predictors of improvement in quality of life of severely mentally ill substance abusers during 18 months of co-operation between psychiatric and social services. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 38, 83–87.Google ScholarPubMed
Schulze, B. & Angermeyer, M.C. 2003. Subjective experiences of stigma. A focus group study of schizophrenic patients, their relatives and mental health professionals. Social Science and Medicine 56, 299–312.Google Scholar
Simon, G.E., Cherkin, D.C., Sherman, K.J., Eisenberg, D.M., Deyo, R.A. & Davis, R.B. 2004. Mental health visits to complementary and alternative medicine providers. General Hospital Psychiatry 26, 171–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slade, M., Phelan, M. & Thornicroft, G. 1998. A comparison of needs assessed by staff and by an epidemiologically representative sample of patients with psychosis. Psychological Medicine 28, 543–550.Google Scholar
Stamps, R. & Barach, P.M. 2001. The Therapists' Internet Handbook. W.W. Norton & Co.: New York.Google Scholar
Strauss, J.S. 1992. The person - Key to understanding mental illness: towards a new dynamic psychiatry, III. British Journal of Psychiatry 161, Suppl. 18, 19–26.Google Scholar
Tindle, H.A., Davis, R.B., Philips, R.S. & Eisenberg, D.M. 2005. Trends in use of complementary and alternative medicine by US adults: 1997-2002. Alternative Therapies in Health Medicine 11 1, 42–49.Google Scholar
Unutzer, J., Klap, R., Sturm, R., Young, A.S., Marmon, T., Shatkin, J. & Wlls, K. 2000. Mental disorder and the use of alternative medicine: results from a national survey. American Journal of Psychiatry 157 11, 1851–1857.Google Scholar
van Os, J., Altamura, A.C., Bobes, J., Owens, D.C., Gerlach, J., Hellewell, J.S.E., Kasper, S., Naber, D., Tamer, N. & Robert, P. 2002. 2-COM: an instrument to facilitate patient-professional communication in routine clinical practice. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 106, 446–452.Google Scholar
Vickers, A. 2000. Recent advances: complementary medicine. British Medical Journal 321, 683–686.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walter, G. & Rey, J.M. 1999. The relevance of herbal treatments for psychiatric practice. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33 4, 482–489.Google Scholar
Walter, G., Rey, J.M. & Haring, A. 2000. Psychiatrists' experience and views regarding St. John's wort and alternative treatments. Australian and New Zeland Journal of Psychiatry 34, 992–996.Google Scholar
Wang, J.L., Patten, S.B. & Russel, M.L. 2001. Alternative meidicne use by individuals with major depression. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 46 6, 528–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, P.S., Lane, M., Olfson, M., Pincus, H.A., Wells, K.B. & Kessler, R.C. 2005. Twelve-month use of mental health services in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry 62 6, 629–640.Google Scholar
Werneke, U., Turner, T. & Priebe, S. 2006. Complementary medicine in psychiatry. Review of effectiveness and safety. British Journal of Psychiatry 188, 109–121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wong, A.H.C., Smith, M. & Boon, H.S. 1998. Herbal remedies in psychiatric practice. Archives of General Psychiatry 55, 1033–1104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yager, J., Siegfreid, S.L. & Dimatteo, T.L. 1999. Use of alternative remedies by psychiatric patients: illustrative vignettes and discussion of the issues. American Journal of Psychiatry 156 9, 1433–1438.Google Scholar
Zollman, C. & Vickers, A. 1999. ABC of complementary medicine. What is complementary medicine? British Medical Journal 319, 693–696.Google Scholar