Abstract:

Allergic diseases are common chronic diseases in chilhood. Treatment failure, long treatment periods, fear from the side effects of drugs and thinking CAM methods more harmless lead people to alternative treatment methods. In this study, our aim is to investigate the use and reasons of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods in our patients who applied to our outpatient clinic and were followed up for various allergic diseases. The study was conducted between August 2019 and August 2020. Patients with any allergic diseases were included in the study. A questionnaire consisting of a total of 24 questions about their primary diseases and CAM was applied to the participants. One hundred two cases were included in the study. The female male ratio of the cases was 0.7 and the mean age was 10.4 ± 5.6 years. The rate of using complementary and alternative medicine was found to be 34.6% (n = 36). While the most frequent disease in the study group was allergic rhinitis (n = 64, 62.7%), the most common disease in which CAM methods were used was food allergies(n = 11, 40.7%). Herbal treatments were commonly used in CAM method (n = 19, 33.1%). The mean age of the mother and father was found to be lower in patients using CAM compared to those who did not. In addition, the rate of using CAM was higher in patients who applied to private practice or clinic and received information from the families of other patients and the people around them. Patients may tend to seek alternative methods because of the fact that patients' expectations are not fulfilled in the treatment of chronic diseases. Despite the advances in modern treatment methods, it has been observed that the use of CAM in individuals with allergic diseases is significant, and the tendency of the parents to use CAM increases as the age of the parents gets younger.

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