Predictors of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Cancer Care: Results of a Nationwide Multicenter Survey in Korea

Table 1

Characteristics of cancer patients and complementary and alternative medicine use.

Variables	Number of patients	Number of users	%	P (𝑋^2 test)
Total	2661	678	25.5
Age (year)
18–39	185	50	27.0
40–59	1171	355	30.3
60–69	791	176	22.3
70+	514	97	18.9	<0.001
Gender
Male	1412	316	22.4
Female	1249	362	29.0	<0.001
Education
≤Middle school	1378	295	21.4
High school	836	249	29.8
≥College	436	130	29.8	<0.001
Marital status
Married	2212	577	26.1
Not married (single, divorced, and widowed)	446	100	22.4	0.105
Monthly household income
<1000 USD	803	155	19.3
1000–3000 USD	1138	300	26.4
≥3000 USD	705	218	30.9	<0.001
National Health Insurance
National Health Insurance	2297	594	25.9
Medicaid/none/others	364	84	23.0	0.137
Cancer type
Stomach	464	103	22.2
Lung	322	77	23.9
Liver	254	70	27.6
Colon/rectum	340	64	18.8
Breast	379	146	38.5
Cervix	113	31	27.4
Others	789	187	23.7	<0.001
Metastasis
No	1901	438	23.0
Yes	637	202	31.7	<0.001
SEER stage
In situ and local	1038	251	24.2
Regional	918	235	25.6
Distant	468	125	26.7
Unknown	237	67	28.3	0.517
Time since diagnosis
≤12 months	985	204	20.7
12–36 months	909	234	25.7
36–60 months	385	120	31.2
>60 months	382	120	31.4	<0.001
Trust in doctor
Very	2335	575	24.6
Somewhat	292	88	31.1
Not at all	34	15	44.1	0.005
Trust in hospital
Very	2125	514	24.2
Somewhat	480	141	29.4
Not at all	56	23	41.1	0.002
Satisfaction with medical service
Very	1837	439	23.9
Somewhat	673	185	27.5
Not at all	151	54	35.8	0.002
EQ5D
No problem	987	223	22.6
One or more problem	1674	455	27.2	0.009