If You Build It, Will They Come? Pediatric Integrative Medicine Service Utilization in a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Area of Science:

• Integrative Medicine
• Pediatric Oncology
• Symptom Management

Background:

• Pediatric cancer patients face significant symptom burden.
• Families seek complementary therapies alongside conventional cancer treatment.
• Integrative Medicine (IM) offers holistic symptom management and support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess referral trends and utilization patterns of a new pediatric IM service.
• To evaluate the initial 18 months of IM service data at a pediatric cancer center.
• To address the knowledge gap regarding IM service use in pediatric oncology.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of clinical metrics for IM patients from December 2020 to June 2022.
• Analysis of referral data and patient demographics.
• Descriptive statistical analysis using R version 4.3.0.

Main Results:

• 174 patients were referred, with a 10.9% no-show rate.
• Neuro-oncology diagnoses were most common (31.6%).
• Patients frequently utilized massage (56.1%) and acupoint visits (50.3%), with an average of 9.2 encounters per patient.

Conclusions:

• The pediatric IM service experienced increasing referrals and repeated utilization in its first 18 months.
• Further research is needed to explore longitudinal trends and symptom impact.
• IM services are a valuable component of comprehensive pediatric cancer care.