Background/Purpose:

Lupus is an autoimmune disease with multitude of symptoms that are often not fully controlled by standard biomedical treatments. This study was designed to gauge current patient use and perspective on Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM) therapies. To our knowledge the last poll of CIM use in this patient population was that of the tri-nation study in 1997.

Methods:

85 participants were recruited from an academic rheumatology practice, lupus support groups, lupus foundation listservs and lupus walks. Of the 85 participants, 77 completed the Qualtrics survey and were used in the data analysis.

The survey was organized into five sections correlating with 5 major branches of CIM therapies: manipulative and body based, mind body, biologically based, alternative medical systems and energy healing.The participant was then asked to answer five questions regarding each of the 20 modalities included. These questions ask the following: (1) whether they have used the therapy, (2) how often, (3) what motivates them to utilize the therapy, (4) what symptoms are they trying to address, and (5) how effective do they perceive the therapy to be.

Results:

The three most commonly used modalities among patients with lupus were non-herbal natural products 44 (57%), aromatherapy/ essential oils 32 (41.5%) and meditation 31 (40.2%). Non-herbal natural products include chondroitin, coenzyme Q 10, fish oil, omega 3 and DHA, glucosamine, lutein, melatonin, Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), and sesame oil. The most commonly utilized were natural fats 40 (90.9%) (fish oil, omega 3, and DHA). This was followed by melatonin 13 (29.5), and glucosamine 11 (25 %). Despite their high rate of utilization, over a third of participants [17 (38.6%)] felt that they were not effective or only somewhat effective. 21 (67.7%) of the meditation users found their therapy to be effective, very effective, or extremely effective. The majority of respondents in all three groups indicated that their motivation for utilizing these therapies was because “they believed it worked” and when asked about their desired benefit indicated “general wellness.” This was a common theme for and was reported as the motivation and benefit for 10 of the 19 therapies. The most striking deviation from this theme however was herbal medicine, with (22; 84.6%) reporting motivation was relief of a lupus related symptom. 91.7% of the 26 respondents that utilized herbs did so specifically to alleviate lupus-related symptoms rather than general wellness, with 20 (76.9%) reporting benefit. Of the 20 herbs listed, turmeric (7; 26.9%), marijuana (6; 23.1%), and green tea (2; 7.6%) were reported to be most beneficial for lupus-related symptoms.

Conclusion: The rate of CIM utilization reported by our lupus patient sample was 87.6%, which is approximately three times higher than the 2012 National Health Statistic Reports estimated 33.2% for the general U.S. population. Like the general public, our respondents gravitated towards the supplement industry. Modalities that had highest perceived effectiveness included massage, herbal medicines, and meditation and may provide therapeutic benefit. Future research should be done to explore efficacy of these therapies in larger lupus population.

« Back to 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/utilization-of-complementary-and-integrative-medicine-among-lupus-patientsa-patient-centered-analysis-of-perceived-effectiveness-and-preference/