Use of complementary therapies by HIV/AIDS patients at Muhimbili national hospital

Purposes. To find out if HIWAIDS patients used CAM to treat their illness and related Symptoms. To find out which CAM therapies were used in I-HV/AIDS attending ART clinics at Muhimbili National Hospital. Methods. The type of study was crossectional which involved HIV/AIDS patients who visited ART clinic during the study period between December 2005 to June 2006.The study was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam region and involved a convenience sample of 400 patients. Face to face interviews were conducted with affected patients with the support of questionnaire. Results. A total of 400 HIV/AIDS patients were included in the study of whom 3l4(78.5%) reported that they used CAM, out of these male were 118(37.5%) and females were 196(62%). The mean age of the survey respondents was 43.3 years with a range of 3 l-45 years the commonest CAM used were vitamins (32%), multivitamin (16.6%), prayer (11.8%) and minerals (10.2%) Most CAM users (57%) reported that the CAM they used were very effective. Among them (78.7%) informed their doctor about the CAM used and (21%) did not. Conclusion. The study has revealed that many HIV/AIDS patients attending the ART clinics at Muhimbili National Hospital used CAM therapies to treat loss of appetite, to increase weight, for skin disorders, increase immunity, and treat oral ulcers. They had Strong trust on CAM. As number of CAM user increases further research on how to disseminate reliable informational safety and efficacy to this population is required