The clinical factors associated with benefit finding of complementary medicine use in patients with back pain: A cross-sectional study with cluster analysis

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has been increasing. OBJECTIVE: To identify the factors associated with perceived benefit from CAM methods in back problems. METHODS: The study was conducted on patients who practiced any CAM methods due to complaints of back pain. Socialdemographic properties, details of CAM methods employed were questioned. Severity of pain was measured by visual analog scale (VAS); benefits were evaluated by the Likert scale. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to discover relationships among variables. RESULTS: In total, 500 patients (265 female, 235 male) were included in the study. Mostly used methods were herbal therapy (32%), balneotherapy (31%), cupping (19.4%) and massage- manipulation (19.2%). Of patients, 355 (71%) were satisfied. The variables associated with benefit finding were female gender, age, chronicity and severity of pain, high educational level, upper middle income status, use as a result of recommendation, dissatisfaction with conventional methods, residence in an urban area, non-herbal method use, being married, and social insurance (p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: The majority of patients using CAM perceived benefits; in particular, women living in urban areas, highly educated, aged more than 40, who suffer from severe chronic back pain, may be more inclined to go to CAM therapists.