Utilisation of traditional medicine among women diagnosed with breast cancer in Ghana: a descriptive phenomenological study
Tóm tắt
Women living with breast cancer (BC) rely on traditional medicine (TM) in addition to orthodox medicine. There is a need to understand how and why women diagnosed with BC utilise TM. This study explored and described the lived experiences of women living with BC in terms of their utilisation of traditional medicine. A descriptive phenomenology design was used to purposively conduct 20 face-to-face in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Data were analysed using NVivo-12 based on Collaizzi’s framework for thematic data analysis. Overall, five main themes emerged, namely: sources of knowledge on TM, motivations for using TM, treatment modalities, timing for the initiation of TM, the reasons for discontinuing use of TM, and the decision to seek orthodox medicine. Under the category of motivations for using TM, four themes emerged: financial difficulties and perceived cost effectiveness of TM, influence of social networks, including family and friends, assurance of non-invasive treatment, delays at the healthcare facility, and side effects of orthodox treatment. Non-invasive treatments included herbal concoctions, natural food consumption, and skin application treatments. Regarding the timing of initiation, TM was used in the initial stage of symptom recognition prior to the decision to seek orthodox medicine, and was also used complementarily or as an alternative after seeking orthodox medicine. However, patients eventually stopped using TM due to the persistence of symptoms and the progression of cancer to a more advanced stage, and disapproval by orthodox practitioners. Women living with BC in Ghana utilise traditional medicine (TM) for many reasons and report their family, friends and the media as a main source of information. A combination of herbal concoctions and skin application modalities is obtained from TM practitioners to treat their BC. However, they eventually discontinue TM when symptoms persist or when disapproval is expressed by their orthodox healthcare providers. We conclude that there is an opportunity to better integrate TM into the standard of oncological care for BC patients.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Zhang J, Lu Y, Zhang N, Yu Z, Li H, He R, Mao Y, Zhu B. Global burden of female breast cancer and its association with socioeconomic development status, 1990–2044. Cancer Rep. 2023 Apr;24:e1827.
World Health Organization (WHO). Breast cancer. 26 March, 2021. [Online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/breast-cancer.
Soerjomataram I, Bray F. Planning for tomorrow: global cancer incidence and the role of prevention 2020–2070. Nat Reviews Clin Oncol. 2021;18(10):663–72.
Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. Cancer J Clin. 2018;68(6):394–424.
Aboufaras M, Selmaoui K, Najib R, Lakhdissi A, Ouzennou N. Predictors of herbal medicine use among cancer patients. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2022 Nov 1:1–5.
Kristoffersen AE, Stub T, Broderstad AR, Hansen AH. Use of traditional and complementary medicine among Norwegian cancer patients in the seventh survey of the Tromsø study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2019;19:1–3.
Sulaiman S, Noor NA. The Utilisation of Traditional Medicine among young malay breast Cancer patients. Malaysian J Social Sci Humanit (MJSSH). 2021;6(10):358–64.
World Health Organization (WHO). Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine. 2023. [Online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine#tab=tab_1.
Ampomah IG, Malau-Aduli BS, Seidu AA, Malau-Aduli AE, Emeto TI. Integrating traditional medicine into the Ghanaian health system: perceptions and experiences of traditional medicine practitioners in the Ashanti region. Int Health. 2022.
Asiimwe JB, Nagendrappa PB, Atukunda EC, Kamatenesi MM, Nambozi G, Tolo CU, Ogwang PE, Sarki AM. Prevalence of the use of herbal medicines among patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complement Altern Med. 2021;2021:1–8.
Yarney J, Donkor A, Opoku SY, Yarney L, Agyeman-Duah I, Abakah AC, Asampong E. Characteristics of users and implications for the use of complementary and alternative medicine in Ghanaian cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy: a cross-sectional study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013;13(1):1–9.
Morrow R, Rodriguez A, King N. Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method. The Psychologist. 2015;28(8):643–4.
Francis JJ, Johnston M, Robertson C, Glidewell L, Entwistle V, Eccles MP, Grimshaw JM. What is an adequate sample size? Operationalising data saturation for theory-based interview studies. Psychol Health. 2010;25(10):1229–45.
Thomas DR. A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. Am J Evaluation. 2006;27(2):237–46.
Praveena KR, Sasikumar S. Application of Colaizzi’s method of data analysis in phenomenological research. Med Leg Updat. 2021;21(2):914–8.
Mothupi MC. Use of herbal medicine during pregnancy among women with access to public healthcare in Nairobi, Kenya: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014;14(1):1–8.
Erku DA. Complementary and alternative medicine use and its association with quality of life among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2016;2016.
Kugbey N, Meyer-Weitz A, Oppong Asante K, Yarney J, Vanderpuye V. Lived experiences of women receiving medical treatments for breast Cancer in Ghana: a qualitative study. SAGE Open. 2021;11(3):21582440211045077.
Guilford K, McKinley E, Turner L. Breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and screening behaviors of college women: application of the health belief model. Am J Health Educ. 2017;48(4):256–63.
Singer S, Blettner M, Kreienberg R, Janni W, Wöckel A, Kühn T, Felberbaum R, Flock F, Schwentner L. BRENDA II study group. Breast cancer patients’ fear of treatment: results from the multicenter longitudinal study BRENDA II. Breast Care. 2015;10(2):95–100.
Satija A, Ahmed SM, Gupta R, Ahmed A, Rana SP, Singh SP, Mishra S, Bhatnagar S. Breast cancer pain management-A review of current & novel therapies. Indian J Med Res. 2014;139(2):216.
Muhamad M, Merriam S, Suhami N. Why breast cancer patients seek traditional healers. International journal of breast cancer. 2012;2012.
Liu W, Yang B, Yang L, Kaur J, Jessop C, Fadhil R, Good D, Ni G, Liu X, Mosaiab T, Yi Z. Therapeutic effects of ten commonly used Chinese herbs and their bioactive compounds on cancers. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2019;2019.
Sale JE, Gignac M, Hawker G. How bad does the pain have to be? A qualitative study examining adherence to pain medication in older adults with osteoarthritis. Arthritis Care & Research: Official Journal of the American College of Rheumatology. 2006;55(2):272–8.
Kim SY, Kim KS, Park JH, Shin JY, Kim SK, Park JH, Park EC, Seo HG. Factors associated with discontinuation of complementary and alternative medicine among Korean cancer patients. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(1):225–30.
Corp N, Jordan JL, Croft PR. Justifications for using complementary and alternative medicine reported by persons with musculoskeletal conditions: a narrative literature synthesis. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(7):e0200879.
Ampomah IG, Malau-Aduli BS, Seidu AA, Malau-Aduli AE, Emeto TI. Perceptions and experiences of orthodox health practitioners and hospital administrators towards integrating traditional medicine into the Ghanaian health system. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(21):11200.
General Assembly of the World Medical Association. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. J Am Coll Dent. 2014;81(3):14–8.