Rates, patterns, and predictors of complementary medicine use among patients with musculoskeletal diseases

Fatima Alnaimat; Hamza Alduraidi; Laila Alhafez; Lujain Abu Raddad; Bassem I Haddad; Mohammad Hamdan; Jihad Alajlouni; Fatma U Afifi

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0287337

Rates, patterns, and predictors of complementary medicine use among patients with musculoskeletal diseases

PLoS One. 2023 Jun 23;18(6):e0287337. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287337. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fatima Alnaimat¹, Hamza Alduraidi^{2

3}, Laila Alhafez⁴, Lujain Abu Raddad⁴, Bassem I Haddad⁵, Mohammad Hamdan⁵, Jihad Alajlouni⁵, Fatma U Afifi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
² School of Nursing, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
³ Aqaba Medical Sciences University, Aqaba, Jordan.
⁴ School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
⁵ Division of Orthopedics, Department of Special Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
⁶ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the extent of complementary medicine (CM) use and the most common therapies utilized by Jordanian patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) diseases.

Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey of outpatient orthopedic and rheumatology patients at an academic medical center in Amman, Jordan between January and September 2020.

Results: A convenience sample of 1001 patients was interviewed (82% females). Pearson's chi-square comparisons showed that nutritional CM was used by 43.4% of patients, while 29.8% used physical CM, and 16% used both. Almost all used the nutritional or physical CM in addition to their prescribed treatment. Nutritional form use was significantly higher among females, older age groups, married people, and those who worked (p < .05). Physical form use was statistically more prevalent in older age groups and those with a higher level of education (p < .05). Family income and urban residence were not significantly associated with the use of either form of CM therapy. Olive oil was the most frequently reported nutritional type (22.9%), and cupping was the most reported physical type (41.6%). Recommendations to use CM came primarily from family members or friends (64% of nutritional CM users and 59% of physical CM users). A physician or pharmacist was cited more frequently with physical CM (24% versus 8% for the nutritional form). In contrast, media sources were cited more for nutritional than physical form (28% versus 7%). Over half of the patients believed they received the desired effect from CM. Surprisingly, only 9.5% of the patients admitted to discussing their CM use with their physician.

Conclusion: CM use is prevalent among Jordanian patients with MSK disorders. Most patients rely on family and friends for recommendations, and they rarely inform their physician of the CM use. Physicians should routinely inquire about CM to provide patients with information regarding their benefits and risks.

Copyright: © 2023 Alnaimat et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Aged
Complementary Therapies*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Musculoskeletal Diseases* / therapy
Outpatients
Physicians*

Grants and funding

This project was funded by the deanship of scientific research at the university of Jordan to F.A, grant number 1371/2020/19. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.