Table 2

Complementary and alternative medicine use as a function of patient characteristics

CharacteristicCAM use; no. (%) of patients*p value
YesNo
Age, mean (SD) yr54 (15)56 (16)0.62
Sex0.10
 Male37 (22)131 (78)
 Female59 (31)130 (69)
Disease status0.008
 Benign44 (21)161 (79)
 Malignant52 (34)100 (66)
Respectability of cancers†< 0.001
 Potentially resectable19 (22)66 (78)
 Unresectable33 (51)32 (49)

  • CAM = complementary and alternative medicine; SD = standard deviation.

  • ↵* Unless otherwise indicated.

  • ↵† Patients with potentially resectable cancer are those who had tumours that were potentially resectable for cure at the time of the initial questionnaire.