Prevalence, types and disclosure of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in Saudi Arabia

Introduction Despite the paucity of scientific evidence, CAM is widely used for the prevention and treatment of illness among patients with chronic kidney disease, including end-stage renal disease and kidney transplant recipients. It is evident that the irrational use of CAM among CKD patients and its non-disclosure to healthcare providers could lead to adverse drug events. Hence, the current study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence, types, and non-disclosure of CAM use among CKD patients and kidney transplant recipients in Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 170 CKD patients (121 with stages 3 and 4, two with stage 5 and on hemodialysis, and 47 kidney transplant recipients). Face-to-face questionnaire-based interviews were conducted employing a convenience sampling technique. The study outcomes were the prevalence of CAM, types of CAM use, monthly expenditure on CAM, the source of information about CAM, and CAM disclosure to healthcare providers. A p -value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results The study found that out of 170, 60 (35.3%) CKD patients use CAM. The most used CAM was Acacia gum (49, 81.6%) followed by spiritual therapies (34, 56.6%). Female CKD patients had higher use of CAM compared to the male gender ( p = 0.015). The monthly expenditures that most users (47, 78.3%) spent on CAM were less than 50 Saudi Riyals (SR). The study results also showed that 55% of CKD patients did not report their CAM use to their physicians. Furthermore, 46.6% of CAM users discontinue their use of CAM after observing no benefit. Conclusion This study reported relatively high use of CAM among CKD patients in Saudi Arabia. The study found that most CKD patients use Acacia gum and spiritual therapies and do not disclose the use of CAM to healthcare professionals, which could lead to adverse drug events. Therefore, the study recommends that healthcare providers should inquire and provide evidence-based counselling about the use of CAM to CKD patients to prevent any adverse drug event or unwanted effect on the renal function of the patients.