Complementary and alternative medicine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: The results of a population-based inception cohort study (IBSEN)

• Published in: Journal of Crohn's and colitis 2012-04, Vol.6 (3), p.345-353
• Main Authors: Opheim, Randi, Hoivik, Marte L., Solberg, Inger C., Moum, Bjorn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acupuncture Therapy; Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Chi-Square Distribution; Colitis, Ulcerative - therapy; Complementary and alternative medicine; Complementary Therapies; Crohn Disease - therapy; Educational Status; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Homeopathy; Humans; IBD; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Satisfaction; Population-based; Prospective Studies; Sex Factors; Spiritual Therapies; Statistics, Nonparametric; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1873-9946; 1876-4479
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crohns.2011.09.007

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been increasing in recent decades. Our aim was to determine the proportion of CAM use among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a longitudinal, population-based cohort and to identify predictive factors for CAM use. The Inflammatory Bowel South-Eastern Norway (IBSEN) study is a population-based IBD cohort that has been followed prospectively for 10years. The ten-year follow-up was conducted from 2000 to 2004 and included a questionnaire regarding CAM, a structured interview, a review of hospital records, a clinical examination, laboratory tests, and an ileocolonoscopy. Of the 620 patients evaluated at the ten-year follow-up, 517 (84%) completed the CAM questionnaire, 353 had ulcerative colitis (UC), 164 had Crohn's disease (CD), and 50% were male. Thirty percent reported the use of CAM at some point since their IBD diagnosis, and 7.5% reported current CAM use. More CD patients than UC patients reported CAM use (38% vs. 27%, respectively; p=0.01). Younger age, female gender, and higher education level predicted CAM use in UC, whereas younger age was the only predictor of CAM use in CD. Thirty-six percent of the CAM users were mostly satisfied or very satisfied with the treatment. One third of the patients in this population-based cohort had used CAM at some point during a ten-year disease course, but only 7.5% reported current CAM use. CAM use was more common in the CD than in the UC patients. Only socio-demographic factors, such as age, gender and education, predicted CAM use.