Beyond convention: describing complementary therapy use by women living with breast cancer

Using a descriptive survey design, 52 women living with breast cancer were interviewed to explore their use of complementary therapy and the relationships between complementary therapy use and key demographic variables and health beliefs. Sixty-seven percent of the women reported complementary therapy use, with meditation/relaxation therapies, vitamins and spiritual healing being the three most frequently reported treatments. Women using complementary therapies were more likely to have completed post-secondary education than women using only conventional medical treatment (chi 2 = 7.1, P = 0.008). Preferred decisional role was found to be significantly associated with the use of complementary therapies (chi 2 = 11.7, P = 0.003); women using complementary therapies preferred a more active/collaborative role in treatment decisions than women using only conventional medical treatment. No significant associations were found between complementary therapy use and beliefs about cause of cancer, treatments, satisfaction with health care providers, and perceived quality of life. The findings point to the pervasiveness of complementary therapy use by women living with breast cancer and contradict past research which has supported a distinct demographic profile of complementary therapy users and associated belief system.