Is complementary medicine and diagnosis associated among spinal patients in the secondary sector: a cross-sectional study

Dorthe Schoeler Ziegler*, Soeren Francis Dyhrberg O'Neill, Kirstine Vest Have, Sabine Gantzhorn Hildebrand

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

PURPOSE: The services defined as complementary and alternative medicine/healthcare (CAM) are used to varying degrees according to the nature of the health problem, and musculoskeletal disorders, in particular, often lead to the use of CAM. Chronic pain is often cited as a reason for using CAM, and it is also the cardinal symptom of patients with back pain referred for specialist care. However, previous studies do not consider the heterogeneity of back pain when examining the use of CAM. Thus, this study aimed to explore the associations between CAM use and clinical findings incl. ICD-10 diagnostic codes in such a context.

METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, a logistic regression analysis examined associations between CAM use and clinical findings at a public outpatient spine department. Chi-squared test examined the association between self-reported reasons for CAM use and the diagnostic groups.

RESULTS: Of the 432 patients in the study population, 23.8% reported using CAM within 12 months prior to clinical assessment. CAM use was associated with being female and of younger age. Seeking CAM was not associated with clinical findings nor diagnosis, and no statistically significant association between the reasons for seeking CAM and the diagnostic groups was described.

CONCLUSIONS: Among patients referred to specialist care for back pain, this study provides no evidence that the spinal condition should be expected to lead to the use of CAM. Only the individual demographic findings, specifically age and gender, were associated with CAM use.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Spine Journal
Volume33
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)2553-2560
ISSN0940-6719
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

© 2024. The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Alternative medicine
  • Back pain
  • Complementary therapy
  • ICD-10
  • Specialist care
  • Complementary Therapies/statistics & numerical data
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Spinal Diseases/diagnosis
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Aged
  • Back Pain/therapy
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data

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