Chronic pain presents a great issue in public healthcare. Doctors typically use opioids in pain treatment; however, the extended use of opioids causes addiction in most cases. Fortunately, to avoid it, there are substitutes for traditional drug treatment, which can be implemented by doctors and patients themselves. Such methods are called complementary alternative medicine (CAM), and they include massage, physiotherapy, natural supplements, and chiropractic treatments. Even though some physicians may disagree that using CAM is efficient, growing evidence from various clinical studies proposes that such medicine practices are recognized and used by patients and their families, as they believe it can help them with pain conditions.
The Spirit of Inquiry Ignited. For governmental healthcare, spending on managing chronic pain conditions induces “$560 billion in direct medical treatment costs and lost productivity” (Penney et al., 2016). Nevertheless, healthcare providers do not oppose alternative medicine. For example, according to the research by Aveni et al. (2016), “the majority of healthcare professionals support the offer of CAM s to the patient and do not oppose integrative medicine” (p. 345).
Notably, 96.7% of nurses and 100% of midwives agreed on the effectiveness of CAM, while the amount of physicians with the same opinion is 93.8%, which is slightly lower. Unfortunately, CAM is entirely accessible to patients because of their financial circumstances (Nielsen et al., 2016). Nevertheless, patients who are going through opioid treatment constantly report using multiple forms of alternative pain relief methods.
The PICOT Question Formulated
In patients who suffer chronic pain, is using complementary alternative medicine provide benefits in reducing opioid addiction?
Search Strategy Conducted
To provide an answer, a cross-sectional study by Groenewald was used. The researchers examined information from the 2012 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS). This investigation is conducted once a year and consists of several cross-sectional surveys that are meant to deliver accurate data on the employment of the healthcare of American citizens. The methods that were used by the researchers included a review of data and an analysis of statistics. It should also be noted that there were no differences in financial or social status between patients.
Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Performed
According to the results of the study, 2795 children were declared to have some type of pain condition, which was treated by opioids. This is the first research to estimate CAM usage in an adequate and representative database of patients who suffer from painful conditions. It is also evident that alternative methods were mostly used among female patients, as well as among those with stable finances and high education. The study can be considered relevant as it provides a large sample size of a particular population group that generally does not take opioid medication for chronic pain treatment. However, the study also has its weaknesses, which include the fact that pain was not estimated for intensity and duration. Moreover, the overall design of the research makes it complicated to connect pain with CAM use.
Evidence Integrated with Clinical Expertise and Patient Preferences to Implement the Best Practice
The study proved that such a practice could be implemented in treatment effects. About 61% of patients with chronic pain stated that CAM use helped significantly in pain treatment. There are several reasons that patients prefer using CAM methods in treatment, which include that “the treatment was perceived as natural, it treats the cause and not just the symptoms, it focuses on the whole person: body, mind, & spirit, and the treatment was part of their upbringing” (Groenewald et al., 2017, p. 790). The other reported advantages of alternative medicine are lower stress, better sleep, and better mental state.
The Outcome of Practice Change Evaluated
The result of implementing the study are significant; they include an improved rate of rehabilitation, better pain control, and a better outcome of treatment overall. Finding the best methods of treating the patients always depends on their physical condition, their income, treatment expectations, lifestyle, insurance coverage, and what is the most important, availability of services. However, a planned approach to the treatment of this crucial issue may lead to better use of state health care funds.
Project Dissemination
Since all the results of the study are accessible in the public domain, it is regarded as exempt. The research is valuable as it has some clinical recommendations for health professors who treat patients with chronic pain conditions. Doctors should be aware that many children who suffer from it use complementary alternative medicine. That is why doctors should educate themselves about the use of such methods when creating treatment plans. It is especially necessary in cases when the family of the patient is concealing their use of CAM treatments due to social prejudice against it.
In conclusion, it would appear that alternative medicine is widely used by American patients who seek treatment for chronic pain conditions. Moreover, their families inform the medical staff about the different benefits of CAM in symptom treatment. Nevertheless, determining the right therapy depends on several circumstances that were described above. In this regard, it is reasonable to form a clinical research question.
References
Aveni, E., Bauer, B., Ramelet, A. S., Kottelat, Y., Decosterd, I., Finti, G., & Rodondi, P. Y. (2016). The attitudes of physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and midwives toward complementary medicine for chronic pain: A survey at an academic hospital. Explore, 12(5), 341-346.
Groenewald, C. B., Beals-Erickson, S. E., Ralston-Wilson, J., Rabbitts, J. A., & Palermo, T. M. (2017). Complementary and alternative medicine use by children with pain in the United States. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7), 785–793.
Nielsen, S., Campbell, G., Peacock, A., Smith, K., Bruno, R., Hall, W., & Degenhardt, L. (2016). Health service utilization by people living with chronic non-cancer pain: Findings from the Pain and Opioids IN Treatment (POINT) study. Australian Health Review, 40(5), 490-499.
Penney, L. S., Ritenbaugh, C., DeBar, L. L., Elder, C., & Deyo, R. A. (2016). Provider and patient perspectives on opioids and alternative treatments for managing chronic pain: A qualitative study. BMC family practice, 17(1), 164.