Some hidden social-psychological aspects of doctor-patient communication: The secret use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the use and diffusion of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practices in a clinical sample of brain tumor patients in Italy, and also to complement this information by monitoring whether, and to what extent, patients informed their physicians about their (secret) usage of CAM. We also addressed some critical socio-psychological aspects that qualify doctor-patient communication—especially those pertaining to patients’ secret use of CAM. Design: An ad-hoc questionnaire was employed to investigate the use of CAM among brain tumor patients. We also collected some additional clinical indicators, along with patients’ own self-reported perceptions of stress, anxiety, and quality of life. Subjects: One-hundred patients affected by CNS tumors participated in the study. Results: Among CAM users, 13% of them begun to use CAM after the discovery of the disease. Most users (60%) did not inform the general practitioner about their CAM use, and even a larger portion of the whole sample (71%) did not inform the specialist. Conclusions: The use of CAM among brain tumor patients appears to be more customary than it might be commonly thought. Although patients generally tend to consider the CAM use as undamaging, recent studies clearly demonstrate various phytotherapic products tend to interfere with the enzymatic activity involved in the metabolism of conventional medicine. Thus, physicians should pay particular attention to the covert CAM use among tumor patients. Also, patients should be properly instructed, where possible, about the correct use of some types of CAM therapies they tend to employ—sometimes secretly—as a supplement to information about conventional tumor treatments.