Complementary and alternative medicine in children with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the complementary and alternative medicine methods, the prevalance of their use, and to assess the factors that influence using these methods in children with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted between November 2012-May 2013. The data collection form consisting 34 questions was prepared. These questions were posed to mothers of children with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis who were followed at least three months in pediatric allergy outpatient clinic. The data were recorded in SPSS for Windows v.16. Descriptive statistics, chi square, and logistic regression analysis were used. p< 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The study included 177 patients. The complementary and alternative medicine methods were suggested to 136 (77%) patients and 68 (38.4%) patients used these methods anytime. 34 (43%) patients with asthma, 25 (39.7%) patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis, 9 (25.7%) patients with allergic rhinitis used complementary and alternative medicine. The differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p> 0.05). The honey use was most common method for both asthma and allergic rhinitis (37% and 22.9%, respectively). Herbal medicines were the %67 of complementary and alternative medicine methods. The diagnosis, education levels of parents, the family income, positivity of skin prick test, severity of the asthma and allergic rhinitis, control of the disease, using multiple drugs, using inhaled steroids were not different between the groups (p> 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that these factors were not related to increased risk of complementary and alternative medicine use. Conclusion: The complementary and alternative medicine use is frequent in children with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis. The physicians should have knowledge about these methods and inform parents about the possible effects and side effects.