Purpose: Few studies have clarified the use of complementary therapies (CTs) in France. The main objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate knowledge of CTs in four representative groups of patients: patients suffering from cancer, patients presenting with a chronic noncancerous disease, chronic dialysis patients and nonchronic or cancerous patients needing surgery.

Methods: A formalized questionnaire was designed by two psychologists, an oncologist and an anesthesiologist in charge of the Pain Clinic and Support Care Unit. One hundred eleven patients were enrolled, and all agreed to complete the questionnaire.

Results: Eighty (72%) patients did not know the term “complementary therapies” (patients who were “not aware of CTs”), and 24 (21.6%) patients knew the term “complementary therapies” (patients who were “aware of CTs”), while seven patients were not sure of the meaning. There were no differences between aware and unaware patients in gender (p=0.27), age (p=0.24), level of education (p=0.24) or professional occupation (p=0.06). Knowledge about CTs was significantly different among the different categories of patients (p=0.03), with the only statistically significant difference between groups being between oncologic patients receiving ambulatory chemotherapy and patients presenting with a chronic noncancerous disease (p=0.004).

Conclusion: This preliminary study clearly highlights that patients and health caregivers are not aware of CTs and that there is a need for better communication about CTs.

Questionnaire.

We have made some modifications on the data table to contain private and potentially compromising medical information as follows:

- two classes for the level of education by keeping only: low level (no diploma or  less than high school diploma) / high level (high school diploma  or university degree) 

- two classes for the professional situation: low level (lower managerial and professional occupation or student or retired or technical occupation or unemployed) / high level (higher managerial and professional occupation or intermediate occupation) 

- two classes for the disease: no cancer (acute obstructive right pyelonephritis, acute prostatitis, acute renal failure, buttock hematoma, chronic atrophic polychondritis, congenital dysfibrinogenemia, crohn's disease, cutaneous systemic sclerosis, cutaneous vesico-cutaneous fistula, colectomy, diagnosis in progress, dialysis for chronic kidney disease, disseminated intravascular coagulation, ENT infection, fibromyalgia, glioblastoma, gonarthrosis, haemorrhagic rectocolitis, hepatic biopsy, hepatitis c, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, hypereosinophilic syndrome, iron deficiency anemia, ischemic colitis, kidney donation, large vessel vasculitis, left colitis episode, lupus erythematosus, malignant external otitis, microscopic polyangiitis , non-infectious inflammatory fasciitis, overreactive bladder, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria , partial nephrectomy, pyelonephritis (bricker), rectal adenocarcinoma, renal artery stenosis, renal cell carcinoma, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcomatoid carcinoma, sigmoiditis, sjögren syndrome, squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder, squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, takayasu disease , wegener's disease) or cancer (bladder cancer, bone cancer, breast cancer, cancer of the throat, ent cancer, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, laryngeal cancer, medistinal tumor, metastatic stomach cancer, placenta cancer, prostate cancer, throat cancer, undifferentiated nasopharyngeal cancer , urothelial bladder cancer)