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CC BY 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1779730
Original Article

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Its Impact on the Delayed Presentation and Advanced Stage of Breast Cancer in Newly Diagnosed Indian Women

Amol Pawar
1   Department of Radiation Oncology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
,
Ashok Diwan
1   Department of Radiation Oncology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
,
Vijay Mahobia
1   Department of Radiation Oncology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
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Abstract

Introduction Complementary and alternate medicine (CAM) use is highly prevalent among Indian cancer patients. However, such studies from the perspective of Indian patients with breast cancer (BC) are lacking.

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of CAM use and its impact on the presentation of patients with BC.

Materials and Methods This retrospective study was performed in the Department of Radiation Oncology over a period of 6 months (January to June 2019) and involved review of hospital-record of 229 newly-diagnosed patients with BC. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was done to evaluate the association of CAM use with the BC stage and various clinicodemographic variables.

Results Of 229 patients, 96 (41.92%) used CAM. The CAM use was significantly associated with rural residence (odds ratio [OR]: 4.092; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.27–7.35), illiteracy (OR: 6.417; 95% CI: 1.83–22.45), delayed presentation by 3 to 6 (OR: 12.964; 95% CI: 2.94–57.00) and more than 6 months (OR: 40.667; 95% CI: 9.26–178.46), and advanced stage at diagnosis (OR: 10.786; 95% CI: 5.15–22.58). Similarly, advanced stage at diagnosis was significantly associated with rural residence (OR: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.59–4.84), illiteracy (OR: 7.20; 95% CI: 1.86–22.79,), and delayed presentation by 3 to 6 (OR: 6.41; 95% CI: 2.81–14.61) and more than 6 months (OR: 17.55; 95% CI: 7.26–42.45).

Conclusions CAM use was highly prevalent among the patients with BC and significantly associated with advanced stage at diagnosis. Moreover, both CAM use and advanced stage at diagnosis were significantly associated with rural residence, low educational status, and delayed presentation.

Keywords

advanced stage - alternative therapies - breast cancer - complementary therapies - India

Patient Consent

Not declared.


Prior Presentation of Manuscript

None.


Authors' Contributions

A.P., V.M., and A.D. conceptualized and designed the study. V.M. and A.D. supervised the study and provided the material. A.P. helped in data collection and/or processing, analysis and/or interpretation, literature search, and writing. A.P., V.M., and A.D. critically reviewed the manuscript.




Publication History

Article published online:
16 April 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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