Integrative oncology aims to coordinate the delivery of conventional medicine and evidence-supported complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to patients receiving cancer care. This field developed out of an increased interest in CAM usage among cancer patients. However, CAM use among medically underserved cancer patients remains to be well characterized. We evaluated CAM awareness as well as prevalence and characteristics of CAM use in 170 consecutive, medically underserved cancer patients presenting to a large, academic, inner-city cancer clinic, using a survey tool. Fifty-three participants declined participation and 17 survey results were incomplete. Therefore, 100 survey results were included in the final analysis. There were 65 males and 35 females in the survey with a mean age of 64.2 years. About 98% of the respondents were African American while 2% identified themselves as Hispanic. About 45% of patients had metastatic cancer, 24% had early-stage disease while 31% of patients were not aware of the stage of their cancer. About 55% patients had elementary school or lower level of education while only 16% had a college degree or higher. About 92% of respondents were unemployed. Some knowledge of CAM was reported by 22% of patients, while CAM use was reported in only 16% of patients. Female sex and college degree were significantly associated with CAM use. The most commonly used CAM modality was meditation (56%), followed by herbal remedies (31%), yoga (31%), and acupuncture (12%). Among CAM users, a majority used multiple CAM therapies. All users reported benefit from CAM use. Emotional wellbeing was the most common benefit followed by improvement in treatment related adverse effects, chemotherapy related symptoms, pain, and sleep. Even though the majority of our surveyed patients never used CAM, 90% of non-users were interested in gaining more information about the various CAM options and exploring its use and potential benefits. The majority (70%) wanted their primary oncologist to provide information about CAM options and discuss its safety and potential complementary benefit in management of their cancer and associated symptoms.
Keywords: CAM; alternative medicine; complementary medicine; health disparity; integrative medicine.