Complementary and Alternative Medicine Usage and Its Determinant Factors Among Infertile Women: A Case of Iran

Abstract

Aim: Some evidence shows an increased utilization of complementary and alternative medicine for infertility treatment, although little information is available to measure this phenomenon in infertile women. Hence, this study aimed to assess the application of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) techniques on infertile women. Materials and methods: This study was cross-sectional. Infertile women referred to the only center of infertility in Kerman, Iran were selected using convenience sampling. In total,144 participants were assessed. Data were collected using a twopart researcher-made questionnaire and they were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics [chi-square test and logistic regression] with SPSS version 18. Results: 56.3% of participants in the present study used at least one of the CAM methods in the past year.. The multivariate logistic regression showed a significant correlation only between education and CAM users/non-users. Conclusions: According to the results, almost one third of infertile women used CAM to treat their infertility indicating high prevalence of CAM usage among infertile women. Therefore, health care providers must pay more attention for infertility treatment to reduce the treatment interactions and increase the quality of care.Keywords: Complementary Therapies, Infertility, traditional medicine, women.