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Use of non-conventional medicine and lifestyle change among cancer survivors: evidence from the national VICAN survey

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the use of non-conventional medicine (NCM) among long-term cancer survivors and its links with healthy behavior.

Methods

This study used data from the VICAN survey, conducted in 2015–2016 on a representative sample of French cancer survivors 5 years after diagnosis.

Results

Among the 4174 participants, 21.4% reported using NCM at the time of the survey, including 8.4% who reported uses not associated with cancer. The most frequently cited reasons for using NCM were to improve their physical well-being (83.0%), to strengthen their body (71.2%), to improve their emotional well-being (65.2%), and to relieve the side effects of treatment (50.7%). The NCM users who reported using NCM to cure cancer or prevent relapses (8.5% of the participants) also used NCM for other reasons. They had more often experienced cancer progression, feared a recurrence, and had a poorer quality of life because of sequelae, pain, and fatigue. They also consulted their general practitioners more frequently and had changed their lifestyle by adopting more healthy practices.

Conclusion

The use of NCM is not an alternative but a complementary means of coping with impaired health. Further research is now required to determine whether the use of NCM reflects a lifestyle change or whether it assists survivors rather to make behavioral changes.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

The use of NCM should alert physicians to survivors’ impaired quality of life. It might be useful to provide patients with NCM guidelines in order to inform their decision and to prevent unrealistic expectations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr Jessica Blanc for revising the English manuscript.

Funding

The VICAN survey was funded by The National Institute of Cancer (INCa), “Contrat de recherche et développement N° 05-2011.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, SESSTIM, Economics & Social Sciences Applied to Health & Analysis of Medical Information, Marseille, France

    Aline Sarradon-Eck, Dominique Rey, Rajae Touzani, Julien Mancini, Marc-Karim Bendiane & Anne-Déborah Bouhnik

  2. Inst Paoli Calmettes, UMR1252 SESSTIM, 232 Bd Sainte Marguerite, 13273, Marseille Cedex 9, France

    Aline Sarradon-Eck & Rajae Touzani

  3. APHM, Internal Medicine, Geriatry and Therapeutic Unit, Marseille, France

    Dominique Rey

  4. APHM, BIOSTIC, Hop Timone, Marseille, France

    Julien Mancini

Authors
  1. Aline Sarradon-Eck
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  6. Anne-Déborah Bouhnik
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Anne-Deborah Bouhnik, Marc-Karim Bendiane, and Rajae Touzani. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Aline Sarradon-Eck and Anne-Deborah Bouhnik, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aline Sarradon-Eck.

Ethics declarations

The methods used were approved by three national ethics commissions: the CCTIRS (French Advisory Committee on the Processing of Information in the Field of Health Research, study registered under n°11-143), the ISP (Institute of Public Health, study registered under n°C11-63), and the CNIL (French Commission on Individual Data Protection and Public Liberties, study registered under n°911290).

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all the individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Sarradon-Eck, A., Rey, D., Touzani, R. et al. Use of non-conventional medicine and lifestyle change among cancer survivors: evidence from the national VICAN survey. J Cancer Surviv 14, 779–789 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-020-00892-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-020-00892-w

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