癌症病童家長為其子女尋求另類療法之調查

Survey of Parents of Children with Cancer Who Look for Alternative Therapies for Their Children

所謂另類療法指的是相對於西方主流醫學之外的治療方式。本研究主要目的在了解癌症病童家長為其子女尋求另類療法的內容及其對病童使用另類療法效果之主觀性評價，於民國88年9月至12月分別於六所醫學中心以門診或住院之癌症病童的家長為收案對象，利用問卷調查收集資料，共完成110份問卷，結果發現癌症病童家長為其子女尋求另類療法的比例達69.1%（n=76），本研究中使用另類療法的種類以民俗及信仰療法（68.4%）佔最多比率，其次依序為中醫療法（57.9%）、特殊的飲食或飲食方式（50.0%），草藥秘方（13.2%）、人電學（3.9%）、靜坐（1.3%）及芳香療法（1.3%）。另外使用另類療法的病童當中有61.8%的病童家長表示未告知醫生。因此，醫護人員應嘗試去了解病童使用另類療法的情形，進而以一個客觀的態度提供病童家長適當的建議，提供一個更人性化、更周全的醫療照顧。

Alternative therapies are regimens that run counter to the mainstream of Western medicine. The main purpose of this study was to investigate and evaluate the alternative medicine with which parents of children with cancer seek to have their children treated The research took as its subjects the parents of children with cancer who were outpatients or inpatients in six medical centers from September to December, 1999. Data were collected by questionnaire and 110 copies were effective. The results showed that 69.1% of the parents had been seeking alternative therapies. The most popular form of alternative therapy identified by this research was folk and religious therapy (68.4%), followed by Chinese medical treatment (57.9%), followed by special diets (50.0%). Other forms were used, such as herbal and arcanum therapy (13.2%), human electricity (3.9%), meditation (1.3%), and aromatherapy (1.3%). The results also showed that 61.8% of the parents had not discussed the use of the alternative therapies with the children's doctors. Hospital workers, therefore, should try to understand the situations of pediatric patients using alternative therapies, and provide appropriate suggestions to parents of pediatric patients as well as more humane, thoughtful medical care.