Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use and its associated factors among menopausal women in Egypt

Ali Mohamed, Magda; El-emam Hafez, Fatma; A. Ebeid, Inas; Mohamed Elalem, Omaima

doi:10.21608/ejnsr.2022.247224

Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use and its associated factors among menopausal women in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor of Family and Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Port Said University, Egypt

² Assistant Professor of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University, Egypt.

³ Lecturer, Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Psychiatric Nursing Department Port-said University, Egypt; Assistant Professor, Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Psychiatric Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Taibah University, KSA.

⁴ Assistant Professor of Family and Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Port Said University, Egypt.

10.21608/ejnsr.2022.247224

Abstract

Background: Despite the fact that hormone replacement therapy is beneficial, many women refuse or stop taking it due to negative effects. As a result, many women are turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) seeking safer ways to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life (CAM). Aim: This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of CAM use & its associated factors among menopausal women. Also to compare Quality Of Life between CAM users & non-users. Subjects and Method: Design: The researchers utilized a descriptive cross-sectional study design. Subjects: The study subjects comprised a sample of 1296 post-menopausal women. Settings: This study was conducted at 12 primary healthcare centers affiliated to Port Said Governorate. Tools: A survey instrument and Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire were used. Results: Of the menopausal women under study, 52.7% were aged between 45 and 54 years with a mean age of 52.5±5.08 years, 53.8% used CAM, and 20.7% reported that friends were the source for them to try CAM. Honey, Holy Qur’an, and positive thinking were the most categories used as CAM. Moreover, advice from the Internet was the most influential predictor. Conclusion: The mean MENQOL score was not significantly different between CAM users (mean MENQOL score=2.181.15) and non-users (mean MENQOL score = 2.010.88) (p = 0.593). Furthermore, practically all CAM users had a lower quality of life than non-users. Recommendations: Additional research is needed to assess other CAM-related modalities.

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