Complementary and alternative medicine use in Turkish children with epilepsy

SummaryWe aimed to determine the prevalence, pattern of use, parental sources of information and adverse effects of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children with epilepsy. Parents of children with epilepsy (n = 305; mean age: 8.3 ± 4.3 years) were interviewed with structured open and close-ended questionnaire. Patients were divided in two groups, CAM and non-CAM and compared using statistical tests. The use of CAM was detected in 22.6% of the patients (n = 69). Prayer was the most commonly used therapy in 91.3% of children (n = 63). Gender (p = 0.032, [OR]: 0.5, 95%CI: 0.287–0.945) and resistance to antiepileptic drugs (p = 0.005, [OR]: 3.4, 95%CI: 1.459–8.148) were found to be associated with CAM use. Parental use of CAMs to treat their children with epilepsy is not common in the Eastern Blacksea Region of Turkey. The research findings have demonstrated that patients’ parents trust in their doctors. However, male sex and the presence of resistance of anti epileptics are potentially CAM predictors.