Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2003; 8: 507
To describe self-reported adverse events (AEs) and associated CAM among HIV-seropositive individuals who utilise CAM.
Prospective, baseline data from 1995 to 1997 with 1662 HIV+ individuals completing a self-administered CAM use questionnaire. Participants were asked to report AEs with possible associated CAM used in the previous 6 months. Main outcome measures include AE frequency, specific CAM associated with AEs, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) use and presence of clinical AIDS.
A total of 313 from 1662 (18.8%) self-reported AEs potentially caused by CAM. Diarrhoea (n = 115), dyspepsia (n = 112) and nausea (n = 92) were the most frequently reported. Specific CAM associated with Aes were vitamin C (n = 35; 3% of all vitamin C users), Chinese herbs (n = 22; 5% all users), acupuncture (n = 18; 2% all users). No difference was found in AEs reported by HAART users (21%) and non-HAART users (21%) (P = 0.983). After adjusting for HAART, significantly more AEs were reported by participants with clinical AIDS (69%) than those without clinical AIDS (31%) (P = 0.001).
Relative risk of treatments is important for those living with HIV. Our results show gastrointestinal disorders as the most frequently reported AE. However, the number of possible CAM-caused AEs was small relative to the number of overall users of the specific CAM treatment. Owing to self-reporting, it is difficult to ascertain if coexisting factors relating to HIV may be causing AEs rather than CAM itself, therefore the interpretation of these data should be done with caution.
