Factors associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicines for prostate cancer by long-term survivors

Sam Egger; Suzanne Hughes; David P Smith; Suzanne Chambers; Clare Kahn; Annette Moxey; Dianne L O'Connell

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0193686

Factors associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicines for prostate cancer by long-term survivors

PLoS One. 2018 Mar 7;13(3):e0193686. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193686. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Sam Egger¹, Suzanne Hughes¹, David P Smith^{1

2

3}, Suzanne Chambers^{3

4

5

6

7}, Clare Kahn¹, Annette Moxey⁸, Dianne L O'Connell^{1

2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Cancer Research Division, Cancer Council New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Menzies Health Institute, Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Cancer Research Centre, Cancer Council Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ Exercise Medicine Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
⁷ Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
⁸ School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether the use of complementary and alternative medicines therapies (CAMs) for prostate cancer and/or its treatment side effects by long-term survivors is associated with selected socio-demographic, clinical, health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) and/or psychological factors.

Design, setting and participants: The Prostate Cancer Care and Outcomes Study (PCOS) is a population-based cohort study of men with prostate cancer who were aged less than 70 years at diagnosis in New South Wales, Australia. Included in these analyses were men who returned a 10-year follow-up questionnaire, which included questions about CAM use.

Methods: Validated instruments assessed patient's HRQOL and psychological well-being. Poisson regression with robust variance estimation was used to estimate the adjusted relative risks of current CAM use for prostate cancer according to socio-demographic, clinical, HRQOL and psychological factors.

Results: 996 of 1634 (61%) living PCOS participants completed the 10-year questionnaire. Of these 996 men, 168 (17%) were using CAMs for prostate cancer and 525 (53%) were using CAMs for any reason (including prostate cancer). Those using CAM for prostate cancer were more likely to be regular or occasional support group participants (vs. no participation RR = 2.02; 95%CI 1.41-2.88), born in another country (vs. Australian born RR = 1.59; 95%CI 1.17-2.16), have received androgen deprivation treatment (ADT) since diagnosis (RR = 1.60; 95%CI 1.12-2.28) or in the past two years (RR = 2.34; 95%CI 1.56-3.52). CAM use was associated with greater fear of recurrence (RR = 1.29; 95%CI 1.12-1.48), cancer-specific distress (RR = 1.15; 95%CI 1.01-1.30), cancer-specific hyperarousal (RR = 1.17; 95%CI 1.04-1.31), cancer locus of control (RR = 1.16; 95%CI 1.01-1.34) and less satisfaction with medical treatments (RR = 0.86; 95%CI 0.76-0.97), but not with intrusive thinking, cognitive avoidance, depression, anxiety or any HRQOL domains.

Conclusions: In this study, about one in six long term prostate cancer survivors used CAMs for their prostate cancer with use centred around ADT, country of birth, distress, cancer control, fear of recurrence and active help seeking.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Australia
Cancer Survivors / psychology
Complementary Therapies*
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Prostatic Neoplasms / epidemiology*
Prostatic Neoplasms / psychology
Prostatic Neoplasms / therapy*
Quality of Life
Regression Analysis
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PG40) (to Dianne O’Connell). David Smith was supported by a Career Development Fellowship from the Cancer Institute NSW (#15/CDF/1-10).