Information and Training Needs Regarding Complementary andAlternative Medicine: A Cross-sectional Study of Cancer Care Providers inGermany

摘要

>Background: Among cancer care providers (CCPs), lack of knowledge constitutes an important barrier to the discussion of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use with patients. This study assessed CCPs’ needs and preferences regarding CAM information and training (I&T). >Methods: An online survey was completed by 209 general practitioners, 437 medical specialists, 159 oncology nurses and medical assistants, and 244 psychologists and social workers engaged in cancer care. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify subgroups of individuals with distinct preference patterns regarding I&T content. >Results: CCPs prefer CAM I&T to be provided as lectures, information platforms on the internet, workshops, and e-mail newsletters. Concerning subject matters, many CCPs considered CAM therapy options for the treatment of a variety of cancer disease- and therapy-related symptoms to be very important (75%-72% of the sample); the same applies to an “overview of different CAM therapies” (74%). LCA identified 5 latent classes (LCs) of CCPs. All of them attached considerable importance to “medical indication,” “potential side effects,” and “tips for usage.” LCs differed, however, in terms of overall importance ratings, theperceived importance of “patients’ reasons” for using specific CAM therapies,“case examples,” and “scientific evidence.” Notably, the 5 LCs were clearlypresent in all 4 occupational groups. >Conclusions:CAM I&T should provide CCPs with an overview of different CAMtherapies and show how CAM might help in treating symptoms cancer patientsfrequently demonstrate (eg, fatigue). Moreover, I&T programs should beflexible and take into account that individual information needs vary evenwithin the same occupational group.