Complementary and alternative medicine in epilepsy: A global survey of physicians’ opinions

Autor: Yamile Calle-López, Abdullah Al-Asmi, Asel Jusupova, Anilu Daza-Restrepo, Abdulaziz Ashkanani, Torbjörn Tomson, Francesco Brigo, Najib Kissani, Eugen Trinka, Lobna Talaat El Ghoneimy, Stanley C. Igwe, Vicente Villanueva, Marjan Asadollahi, Chrisma Pretorius, Saule T. Turuspekova, Boulenouar Mesraoua, Loreto Rios-Pohl, Luciana D'Alessio, Taoufik Alsaadi, Ali A. Asadi-Pooya, Samson Khachatryan, Alla Guekht, Guilca Contreras, Ghaieb Bashar Aljandeel, Simona Lattanzi, Kette D. Valente, Ioannis Karakis, Mansur A. Kutlubaev
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
r-IIS La Fe. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Fe
instname
ISSN: 1525-5050
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107835
Popis: Purpose To investigate the opinions of physicians on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with epilepsy (PWE) worldwide. Methods Online survey addressed to neurologists and psychiatrists from different countries. Results Totally, 1112 physicians from 25 countries (different world region: Europe, North America, South America, Middle-East, Africa, Former Soviet Union Republics) participated; 804 (72.3%) believed that CAM might be helpful in PWE. The most commonly endorsed CAM included meditation (41%) and yoga (39%). Female sex, psychiatry specialization, and working in North and South America were associated with the belief that CAM is helpful in PWE. Two-hundred and forty five out of 1098 participants (22.3%) used/prescribed CAM to PWE; among them, 174 (71%) people perceived CAM to be less effective and 114 (46.5%) people found CAM to be safer than conventional antiseizure medications (ASMs). The most common reasons to prescribe CAM for PWE were: to satisfy the patient (49.9%), dissatisfaction with the efficacy (35.6%), and dissatisfaction with the adverse effects (31.2%) of conventional therapies. Conclusion Although the evidence supporting the use of CAM for the treatment of epilepsy is extremely sparse, most physicians worldwide believe that it could be integrated with the use of conventional ASMs, at least in some patients. High-quality controlled trials are warranted to provide robust evidence on the usefulness of CAM options in PWE.
Databáze: OpenAIRE