The use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with fibromyalgia

Introduction and Purpose: FMS is a chronic pain disorder that is commonly characterized by body pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive and somatic dysfunction, affecting the quality of life. Its prevalence is between 2-8% and it is more common in women. It can be seen at any age, including childhood. It is the most common musculoskeletal disease after osteoarthritis. The Etiopathogenesis of the disease has not been fully elucidated. It is reported that the rate at which patients with FMS apply to any conventional and complementary medicine method is almost complete. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of complementary and alternative medicine (cam) in patients, their perspectives on cam applications and the effectiveness of these applications in treatment; the secondary purpose is to determine the importance of cam applications in FMS treatment and to enlighten patients about this issue and to draw the attention of physicians towards improving themselves on this topic. Material and Method: The research is a prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out at Aydın Adnan Menderes University Practice and Research Hospital, Physical Medicine, and Rehabilitation Outpatient Clinic between 01/10/2019-01/02/2020. It was carried out by applying a face-to-face questionnaire on consenting 140 FMS patients who had applied consecutively to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Outpatient Clinic and were previously evaluated and diagnosed with FMS by the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Specialist. The questionnaire, which was created by the researchers by scanning the relevant literature, consists of 3 sections and 34 questions, including the patients' sociodemographic characteristics, FMS related features, and GETAT related questions. Research data were evaluated by using SPSS 18 statistics program. In statistical analysis, the Chi-Square Test, Fisher's Final Test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used. The statistical significance level was accepted as p <0.05. Results: Of the 140 FMS patients included in the study, 96.4% were female and 3.6% were male. The average age was 46.25 and 72.9% were between 40-65 years old. 85.7% were married, 71.4% were housewives. The disease duration in 59.3% of the patients was 113 more than 3 years. The most common first complaints were; common body pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and morning stiffness. It was determined that 96.4% of the patients were using medical drugs and 65.7% were satisfied with this treatment. Only 13.6% did not know about CAM. 54.3% stated that they used at least one CAM method. The most common methods are; phytotherapy, acupuncture, cupping, nutritional supplements, and chiropractic. The patients stated that they used the CAM method most frequently because of the doctor's suggestion and that they learned these methods most frequently from the healthcare professionals. 63.1% of the patients stated that they consulted the doctor before using CAM. The rate of those who said that both medical treatment and CAM was effective was higher with 40.7%. It observed that 77.6% of patients benefit from CAM methods and 72.3% of these patients could recommend these methods to others. There was a significant relationship between having knowledge about CAM and sociodemographic characteristics. However, there was no significant difference between CAM use and sociodemographic features. It was seen that there was only a significant relationship between the first presenting complaints and comorbidities and CAM use. It was seen that there was a significant relationship between the benefit of CAM methods and only the first presenting complaints. When the CAM methods used were compared with the socio-demographic, clinical, and CAM-related features, it was found that there were significant relationships between them. Conclusion: In our study, the rate at which CAM methods and the rate of benefit from these methods were found to be high in FMS. Patients' knowledge about GETAT methods was also found to be quite high. Given that, partially knowledgeable and non-knowledgeable housewives and elementary school graduates were considered, especially in regions where patients with low education and income level FMS patients live. In order to prevent misuse of CAM methods, field training designed for this purpose can be organized for physicians to provide this information. It may be suggested to physicians to have adequate about the methods. Asking patients about their CAM use at each interview and suggesting that they share their CAM methods with their physicians will be effective in preventing misuse. In order to raise the low level of knowledge and low education about FMS, it may be recommended to emphasize that education is important in the treatment of the disease and appropriate training about FMS. There are few studies on the use of CAM in patients with FMS and it is thought that new studies that will contribute to the literature on this topic.