a University Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Centre for Paediatric Research, Centre of Social Paediatrics (SPZ), Liebigstr. 20a, Leipzig, Germany
b Dept. of Clinical Pharmacy, Institute of Pharmacy, Drug Safety Center, Leipzig University, Eilenburger Str. 15a, Leipzig, Germany
b Dept. of Clinical Pharmacy, Institute of Pharmacy, Drug Safety Center, Leipzig University, Eilenburger Str. 15a, Leipzig, Germany
Abstract
Background The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular. Parents of children suffering from epilepsy may also consider administering CAM to their children. Systematic data about frequency of and motivations for CAM use, however, are scarce. Methods In a university hospital's neuropaediatric department parents of patients aged 0-18 years suffering from epilepsy were consecutively invited to take part in a structured interview during 4 months in 2014. Results Of the invited parents, 164/165 (99%) agreed to participate. From those, 21/164 (13%) stated that they used CAM in their child. The highest independent predictive value of CAM use was the occurrence of adverse drug events (ADE) of anticonvulsants as judged by parents. Patients affected by ADE had a 5.6 higher chance of receiving CAM compared to patients without ADE. Most commonly used were homeopathy (14/21, 67%) and osteopathy (12/21, 57%). The internet was the most frequently used source of information (14/21, 67%). Of the parents, 10/21 (48%) described positive effects of CAM on seizure frequency, 12/21 (57%) on general condition of their child, and 20/21 (95%) wished to continue CAM for epilepsy therapy. From the non-users of CAM, 91/143 (66%) expressed the desire to learn more about CAM for epilepsy therapy. Limitations Our study was performed in a university hospital in a large urban city in Eastern Germany. CAM user rates can differ in other parts of Germany andEurope, in other institutions and for chronic diseases other than epilepsy. Conclusion The main reason for CAM use was the occurrence of ADE of anticonvulsants. More than half of the parents saw a benefit of CAM for their children. Almost all parents wished to continue CAM use, even those who did not see concrete positive effects. © 2015 European Paediatric Neurology Society.
Author keywords
Children; Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM); Epilepsy; Homeopathy; Osteopathy
Indexed keywords
EMTREE drug terms: anticonvulsive agent
EMTREE medical terms: adolescent; adult; adverse drug reaction; alternative medicine; anticonvulsant therapy; Article; benign childhood epilepsy; child; female; homeopathy; human; infant; Internet; major clinical study; male; motivation; newborn; observational study; osteopathic medicine; parent; priority journal; prospective study; structured interview
