Discrepant Views of Oncologists and Cancer Patients on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in a Chinese General Hospital

Purpose: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been widely used by cancer patients but rarely discussed by oncologists. This study was designed to evaluate the communication gap between China’s oncologists and cancer patients on CAM. Methods: Two parallel cross-sectional studies assessed 83 oncologists and 402 cancer patients on CAM communication between patients and oncologists, and attitudes toward CAM use and clinical decisions about CAM. Results: A majority (75.1%) of the cancer patients (302/402) were identified as CAM users within the most recent three months while 77.6% of the cancer patients (312/402) were identified as CAM users since diagnosis of cancer. Oncologists and patients responded differently (P < .001) on CAM communications. Both oncologists and patients expected that CAM could improve the immune system. They both agreed that oncologists usually discouraged their patients from using CAM. Regarding the effectiveness of CAM, cancer patients were more likely to believe that CAM was effective while oncologists had more concerns about adverse effects of CAM use. CAM use by patients was predicted by disease duration (≥9 months) in the multivariable logistic regression model. Conclusion: China’s oncologists and cancer patients may hold discrepant views on CAM. China’s oncologists are encouraged to improve their knowledge on CAM and to initiate more discussions with their patients regarding effective and the safe use of CAM.