The use of complementary/alternative medicine among paediatric patients

Abstract The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing. The aim of this study was to characterise the use of CAM among patients in an outpatient clinic in a paediatric department. All patients aged 0–18 years, attending the paediatric outpatient clinic at Hans Christian Andersen Children’s Hospital during a 2-week period, in the autumn of 2020, were asked to participate. In total, 771 patients (83.2%) participated. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, which consisted of 12 questions. CAM was divided into three groups: Herbal medicine (herbal drugs or dietary supplements) (HM), alternative therapy (AT) (e.g. acupuncture) and chiropractic (CHI). Of the 771 paediatric patients enrolled in this study, 59% (n = 455) had used complementary and alternative medicine at least once. CHI was the most used type of CAM and is especially used for disorders not usually treated with conventional medicine, such as infantile colic. Conclusion: The prevalence of children using CAM in Denmark is high and increasing, compared to previous studies. Paediatricians should be aware of this, and paediatric patients should be interviewed about their use of CAM with regard to side-effects, interactions or lack of compliance with conventional medicine.