Abstract
Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a growing global health concern. The conventional therapy options for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) include life style management and medical nutrition therapy, oral glucose lowering drugs, and injections of insulin. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is neither widely taught in medical schools nor widely practiced in hospitals. Nevertheless, there is worldwide increase in the use of CAM.
Aim: To assess prevalence and identify patterns of CAM utilization among patients with T2DM in Abha City, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study included a sample of 300 T2DM patients who are registered at the Diabetes Center in Abha City, Saudi Arabia, who were directly interviewed using a prestructured questionnaire.
Results: Participants' age ranged from 24 to 80 years (Mean +/- SD: 53.1 +/- 14.9 years). CAM utilization was recorded among 78% of the patients. Herbs were the most recorded item used by the patients (53.4%) followed by dietary supplements (52.1%), honey (33.3%), special food (29.1%), and Roqia (Quran) (15.4%).
Conclusions & recommendations: Nearly 3 out of each four diabetic patients use at least one type of CAM, especially females with a recent diagnosis. Herbs are the most frequently used CAM at initial diagnosis of DM.