Effects of integrative medicine on pain and anxiety among oncology inpatients.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Few studies have investigated the effectiveness of integrative medicine (IM) therapies on pain and anxiety among oncology inpatients.

METHODS:

Retrospective data obtained from electronic medical records identified patients with an oncology International Classification of Diseases-9 code who were admitted to a large Midwestern hospital between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2012. Outcomes were change in patient-reported pain and anxiety, rated before and after individual IM treatment sessions, using a numeric scale (0-10).

RESULTS:

Of 10948 hospital admissions over the study period, 1833 (17%) included IM therapy. Older patients had reduced odds of receiving any IM therapy (odds ratio [OR]: 0.97, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.96 to 0.98) and females had 63% (OR: 1.63, 95% CI = 1.38 to 1.92) higher odds of receiving any IM therapy compared with males. Moderate (OR: 1.97, 95% CI = 1.61 to 2.41), major (OR: 3.54, 95% CI = 2.88 to 4.35), and extreme (OR: 5.96, 95% CI = 4.71 to 7.56) illness severity were significantly associated with higher odds of receiving IM therapy compared with admissions of minor illness severity. After receiving IM therapy, patients averaged a 46.9% (95% CI = 45.1% to 48.6%, P <.001) reduction in pain and a 56.1% (95% CI = 54.3% to 58.0%, P <.001) reduction in anxiety. Bodywork and traditional Chinese Medicine therapies were most effective for reducing pain, while no significant differences among therapies for reducing anxiety were observed.

CONCLUSIONS:

IM services to oncology inpatients resulted in substantial decreases in pain and anxiety. Observational studies using electronic medical records provide unique information about real-world utilization of IM. Future studies are warranted and should explore potential synergy of opioid analgesics and IM therapy for pain control.

• Authors: Jill R Johnson, Daniel J Crespin, Kristen H Griffin, Michael D Finch, Jeffery A Dusek
• Journal: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs (J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr) Vol. 2014 Issue 50 Pg. 330-7 (Nov 2014) ISSN: 1745-6614 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25749600 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
• Copyright: © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Topics

• Acupressure
• Acupuncture Therapy
• Adult
• Age Factors
• Aged
• Anxiety (therapy)
• Complementary Therapies (statistics & numerical data)
• Female
• Humans
• Inpatients (psychology)
• Integrative Medicine
• Male
• Massage
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasms (complications, psychology)
• Pain (etiology)
• Pain Management (methods)
• Retrospective Studies
• Severity of Illness Index
• Sex Factors