Patient-Physician Communication on the Use of Traditional and Complementary Medicine During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study on Pregnant Women in Bolivia

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, individuals turned to traditional and complementary medicine (T/CM) as an alternative healthcare option while practicing social distancing. Consequently, monitoring patients’ T/CM use through effective patient-physician communication has become an important public health concern. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the use of T/CM among pregnant women in El Alto, Bolivia during the COVID-19 outbreak and examine the communication behaviors regarding T/CM use during antenatal consultations.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 271 postpartum women admitted to the postnatal wards or visiting the postnatal clinic at Hospital Materno Los Andes and Hospital Municipal Modelo Corea in El Alto, Bolivia. The survey instrument comprised 48 items on the pattern of T/CM use during pregnancy, sociodemographic and health-related characteristics, pregnancy outcomes, and perceived level of concern during the COVID-19 outbreak. Chi-square test and logistic regression were conducted for data analysis using SPSS ver. 26.0.Results: Although 57% of women reported using T/CM during pregnancy, less than one-third of those women discussed their T/CM use with healthcare providers. However, more than 70% of the women were willing to disclose T/CM use if the conversation was initiated by the healthcare providers. Lastly, potential predictors of T/CM disclosure included non-nutritional supplement use during pregnancy and obtaining T/CM-related information from mass media.Conclusion: This study highlights the lack of communication between pregnant women and their healthcare providers regarding T/CM use, despite its prevalent use during public health crises, including the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, it is crucial to develop interventions to improve communication practices and enhance the quality of care for pregnant women.Funding: None.Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.Ethical Approval: The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board on Human Subjects Research and Ethics Committees at Hanyang University Seoul, Korea (HYUIRB-202109-019). Servicio Regional de Salud El Alto (SERES El Alto) also issued formal permission to carry out the study. One supervisor and one data collector were recruited for the data collection process. All participation was voluntary, and all participants provided IRB-approved informed consent prior to the survey.