Prevalence and Determinants of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Use Among Subjects with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in a Tertiary Institution in South East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: There is limited data on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Nigeria. This study aims to examine the prevalence, types, and determinants of CAM use among T2DM patients in Southeast Nigeria.
 Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 250 diabetic patients who attended the DM clinic in a tertiary institution in South East Nigeria. Each participant completed a questionnaire which had sections on demography, diabetes-related information, and CAM use details. Data collated was analyzed using SPSS version 26.0 for windows.
 Results: The prevalence of CAM use in this study was 34%. After adjustment; the logistic regression results showed that CAM use was significantly associated with age, and place of residence. The most commonly used type of CAM by participants were bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) (56.5%), followed by bitter cola (Garcinia kola) (47%), scent leaf (African basil) (40%), moringer (20%), utazi (Gongronema latifolium) 17.7%), and aloe vera (7.1%) before the rest. The majority of CAM users were referred to use CAM by friends (68.2%), family members (25.9%), or media (14.1%). Most subjects (75.5%) used CAM concurrently with orthodox medications and only 32.9%% knew the constituents of the CAM they were using. However, gender, marital status, occupation, educational level, income, and DM duration did not significantly associate with CAM use in this study.
 Key words. Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Diabetes Mellitus
 Conclusions: The prevalence of CAM use was high among diabetics. Further studies to isolate and purify the constituents responsible for the anti-glycemic activity of each compound may be needed in the future.