High Usage of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Turkish Asthmatic Children

An increasing number of asthmatic patients are attracted by complementary and and alternative medicine (CAM). The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and describe the characteristics of CAM use by children with asthma in a paediatric allergy clinic in Istanbul, Turkey. The parents of asthmatic children were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey study. Current asthma treatment, severity of asthma, emergency admittances and hospitalisations, education of parents, settlements, income of the family and parental use of CAM were investigated as predictors of CAM usage. Out of the 500 patients, 330 (66%) had used CAM therapy; most popular modalities were herbal medicine (45%), honey (41.6%), grape syrup (37.2%) and quail eggs (36.2%). The most common used herbal medicine in the study group were linden (21.6%) and ginger (21.2%). There was no significant difference in regard to the use of regular asthma treatment, the severity of asthma, the frequency of emergency admittance, hospitalisations due to asthma, education of parents and settlements between CAM users and non-CAM group. A significant inverse association was found in terms of family income and CAM usage. Parents' own use of CAM was also associated with significant increase in the use of CAM. In conclusion; the prevalance of reported CAM use among Turkish asthmatic children was found to be high (66%), with herbal medicine being the most popular modality. The results of this study shows that CAM use becomes more prevelant among asthmatic children from families with low income. It will be increasingly important for physicians who care for allergic children to be aware of high CAM usage.