Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2003 Jun; 90(6): 611-5.

Complementary and alternative medicine in children with asthma.

Orhan F, Sekerel BE, Kocabas CN, Sackesen C, Adalioglu G, Tuncer A.

Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Allergy and Asthma, Ankara, Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), particularly for chronic conditions such as asthma, is growing rapidly, but little is known about its use in asthmatic children. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the extent, characteristics, and possible predictors of CAM use in a group of Turkish children with asthma. METHODS: The parents of asthmatic children were invited to participate in a questionnaire-based survey of 13 worldwide and 5 local methods of CAM. Current asthma treatment, asthma exacerbations, emergency admittances and hospitalizations due to exacerbations, and parental education levels were investigated as predictors that influenced the use of CAM. RESULTS: Of the 304 asthmatic children (mean +/- SEM age, 10.5 +/- 0.2 years; range, 1-16 years), 49% (n = 150) had used some form of CAM previously, and 38% had used CAM within the previous year. The most popular forms of CAM were quail eggs (79%), herbal medicine (31%), Turkish wild honey (26%), speleotherapy (5%), and royal jelly (5%). The respondents learned about CAM through friends (61%), relatives (25%), the media (9%), and physicians (6%). Age, sex, and mother's and father's education levels were insignificant between the groups that used and did not use CAM (P = 0.40, P = 0.18, P = 0.15, and P = 0.09, respectively). The use of regular asthma treatment, the use of inhaled corticosteroids, asthma exacerbations, emergency admittances, and treatment score were significantly high in the CAM group (P = 0.006, P = 0.03, P = 0.008, P = 0.02, and P = 0.02, respectively). A significantly high percentage of respondents in the CAM group had considered using CAM for their child's asthma in the future (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Asthmatic children in whom the disease is not well controlled are more likely to use CAM as complementary therapy.