English abstract
Objectives: A majority of Indian cancer patients are often
presented with incurable diseases at the latest phase of disease
progression. The use of traditional, complementary and
alternative medicine (TCAM) has been identified by Indian
oncologists as a potential factor for the delay in seeking health
from medical practitioners but no research has been conducted
to verify such claims. The aim of this study is to identify sociodemographic and disease status differences between TCAM and
non-TCAM users among cancer patients in India and associated
patterns of seeking professional medical help.
Methods: A random survey of 825 cancer patients in one public
and one private hospital was conducted in Delhi, India. Using
four interviewers, a list sampling technique was used to interview
every patient over a four month period, with a response rate of
80%.
Results: The results showed that 34.3% of cancer patients had used
TCAM. The results also demonstrated a statistically significant
relationship between the use of TCAM and reported delay in
seeking help from clinical medicine (p<0.001). On the other
hand, 35.2% of TCAM users reported seeking help immediately
after onset of symptoms, whereas 50% of non-users immediately
sought help from conventional medicine. Furthermore, 11.5%
of TCAM users reported waiting for six months or more after
noticing cancer-related symptoms, while only 2.1% of non-users
waited this long.
Conclusion: Overall,early diagnosis and intervention is critical for
effective treatment of many malignancies. Delays in presentation
related to the use of TCAM may be an important factor relating
to the high rates of advanced disease on presentation and low
survival rates in the care of Indian cancer patients. Further
research is needed to explore the reasons for using TCAM and to
ensure existing issues of delays in help seeking are addressed.
