TY - JOUR
T1 - Complementary and alternative medicine in epilepsy
T2 - A global survey of physicians’ opinions
AU - Asadi-Pooya, Ali A.
AU - Brigo, Francesco
AU - Lattanzi, Simona
AU - Karakis, Ioannis
AU - Asadollahi, Marjan
AU - Trinka, Eugen
AU - Talaat El Ghoneimy, Lobna
AU - Pretorius, Chrisma
AU - Contreras, Guilca
AU - Daza-Restrepo, Anilu
AU - Valente, Kette
AU - D'Alessio, Luciana
AU - Turuspekova, Saule T.
AU - Aljandeel, Ghaieb
AU - Khachatryan, Samson
AU - Ashkanani, Abdulaziz
AU - Tomson, Torbjörn
AU - Kutlubaev, Mansur
AU - Guekht, Alla
AU - Alsaadi, Taoufik
AU - Calle-Lopez, Yamile
AU - Mesraoua, Boulenouar
AU - Ríos-Pohl, Loreto
AU - Al-Asmi, Abdullah
AU - Villanueva, Vicente
AU - Igwe, Stanley C.
AU - Kissani, Najib
AU - Jusupova, Asel
N1 - Funding Information:
Ali A. Asadi-Pooya: Honoraria from Cobel Daruo, Tekaje, Sanofi, Actoverco, and RaymandRad; Royalty: Oxford University Press (Book publication); Grant from the National Institute for Medical Research Development. Others: no conflict of interest.
Funding Information:
Eugen Trinka has received personal fees from UCB, Eisai, Bial, Böhringer Ingelheim, Medtronic, Everpharma, GSK, Biogen, Takeda, Liva-Nova, Newbridge, Novartis, Sanofi, Sandoz, Sunovion, GW Pharmaceuticals, Marinus, Arvelle; grants from Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Österreichische Nationalbank, European Union, GSK, Biogen, Eisai, Novartis, Red Bull, Bayer, and UCB; other from Neuroconsult Ges.m.b.H., outside this work.
Funding Information:
This study was supported by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Purpose: To investigate the opinions of physicians on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with epilepsy (PWE) worldwide. Methods: Online survey addressed to neurologists and psychiatrists from different countries. Results: Totally, 1112 physicians from 25 countries (different world region: Europe, North America, South America, Middle-East, Africa, Former Soviet Union Republics) participated; 804 (72.3%) believed that CAM might be helpful in PWE. The most commonly endorsed CAM included meditation (41%) and yoga (39%). Female sex, psychiatry specialization, and working in North and South America were associated with the belief that CAM is helpful in PWE. Two-hundred and forty five out of 1098 participants (22.3%) used/prescribed CAM to PWE; among them, 174 (71%) people perceived CAM to be less effective and 114 (46.5%) people found CAM to be safer than conventional antiseizure medications (ASMs). The most common reasons to prescribe CAM for PWE were: to satisfy the patient (49.9%), dissatisfaction with the efficacy (35.6%), and dissatisfaction with the adverse effects (31.2%) of conventional therapies. Conclusion: Although the evidence supporting the use of CAM for the treatment of epilepsy is extremely sparse, most physicians worldwide believe that it could be integrated with the use of conventional ASMs, at least in some patients. High-quality controlled trials are warranted to provide robust evidence on the usefulness of CAM options in PWE.
AB - Purpose: To investigate the opinions of physicians on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with epilepsy (PWE) worldwide. Methods: Online survey addressed to neurologists and psychiatrists from different countries. Results: Totally, 1112 physicians from 25 countries (different world region: Europe, North America, South America, Middle-East, Africa, Former Soviet Union Republics) participated; 804 (72.3%) believed that CAM might be helpful in PWE. The most commonly endorsed CAM included meditation (41%) and yoga (39%). Female sex, psychiatry specialization, and working in North and South America were associated with the belief that CAM is helpful in PWE. Two-hundred and forty five out of 1098 participants (22.3%) used/prescribed CAM to PWE; among them, 174 (71%) people perceived CAM to be less effective and 114 (46.5%) people found CAM to be safer than conventional antiseizure medications (ASMs). The most common reasons to prescribe CAM for PWE were: to satisfy the patient (49.9%), dissatisfaction with the efficacy (35.6%), and dissatisfaction with the adverse effects (31.2%) of conventional therapies. Conclusion: Although the evidence supporting the use of CAM for the treatment of epilepsy is extremely sparse, most physicians worldwide believe that it could be integrated with the use of conventional ASMs, at least in some patients. High-quality controlled trials are warranted to provide robust evidence on the usefulness of CAM options in PWE.
KW - Alternative
KW - Complementary
KW - Epilepsy
KW - Integrative
KW - Seizure
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U2 - 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107835
DO - 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107835
M3 - Article
C2 - 33611098
AN - SCOPUS:85103132058
SN - 1525-5050
VL - 117
JO - Epilepsy and Behavior
JF - Epilepsy and Behavior
M1 - 107835
ER -