Cancer-related correlates of Traditional and Complementary Medicine use among Norwegian cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study

Background: Cancer survivors are a diverse group with varying needs that are patient-, disease-, and/or treatment-specific. Cancer survivors have reported supplementing conventional anti-cancer treatment with Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) to combat the effects of the disease, as well as the adverse effects of conventional anti-cancer treatments, at different phases of their diagnosis. We aimed to study disease- and treatment-related correlates of T&CM use among Norwegian cancer survivors. Methods Data was collected from the seventh survey of the Tromsø Study, Tromsø 7, conducted in 2015-16 among residents of the Tromsø municipality aged 40 and above. Of the 32 591 inhabitants invited, 21 083 accepted the invitation leading to a response rate of 64.7%. The Tromsø study consists of a three-part questionnaire and a thorough clinical examination. In addition to data from the Tromsø study, data on cancer diagnosis and conventional anti-cancer treatment were collected from the Cancer Registry of Norway. Pearson chi-square test, Fisher’s exact tests and independent sample t-test were used to compare T&CM users with non-users. Statistical significance was set at the p-value of < 0.05. All statistical analyses were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0 for Windows. Results T&CM was used by 31.2% of the participants with natural remedies as the most reported modality of T&CM (18.2%, n = 238), followed by self-help practices of meditation, yoga, qigong, or tai chi, which was reported by 8.7% (n = 114). Provider-based T&CM were reported by 10.0%, where each (acupuncturists; traditional healers; and other CM providers) were reported by 4% of the participants, respectively. Users of T&CM were significantly younger and more likely to be female (p < .001) than the non-users, with higher use of T&CM among females with poor self-reported health, distant metastasis, and being 1–5 years post-diagnosis. Lower use was found among women who received a combination of surgery and hormonal therapy. Similar trends were seen in males, but not at a significant level. For both males and female, T&CM was most frequently used by those with only one cancer diagnosis (p = .046). Conclusion The findings suggest that there is a difference in clinical predictors for T&CM between female and male cancer survivors, with more clinical predictors among females.