Patient-reported complementary and alternative medicine use in IBD: 10 years of observation among patients included in a national cohort

Background : Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) may be defined as treatments that fall outside of conventional healthcare. Patients with IBD often turn to CAM, mainly without discussing it with their physician. We repetitively collect information on patient-reported CAM use in 2007–2016. The aims of this study were to assess main types of CAM used by year and factors associated with CAM use in 2016. Methods : The Swiss IBD cohort started Nov 2006. At enrolment and annually, patients were asked to complete self-reported questionnaires (Q). CAM were collected using a list of previously identified CAM + a free text option. Cohort data were used to characterise CAM users. For descriptive purposes, we classified CAM using recommendations of the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Changes in life habits (e.g. diet, sportive activities) was taken as an additional category. Dietary and nutritional supplements were not assessed here. Logistic regressions were performed to search for factors associated with CAM use (i.e. ≥1 CAM reported from 2007 to 2016)