The Effect of Complementary Medicine (CAM) Treatments on Common Symptoms in Hospitalized Patients

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study evaluates the effects of complementary medicine (CAM) treatments on patient reported outcomes in hospital settings, for hospitalized people. Various CAM modalities such as acupuncture, reflexology, guided imagery and hypnosis are evaluated. The investigators compare outcomes between two groups: Standard of care (treatments that are provided commonly in hospital) versus standard of care AND CAM treatments. Outcomes assessed are both quantitative i.e. scores on Visual Analogue Scale for various symptoms such as pain, nausea, wellbeing, anxiety, and qualitative such as Measure Yourself Concerns And Wellbeing.

Detailed Description
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Symptomatic patients are referred to CAM treatments by the medical staff of the departments. Patients interested in CAM treatments may receive various CAM treatments such as reflexology, acupuncture, guided imagery and hypnosis, according to patient preference and practitioner availability. Patients are requested to grade the severity of their symptoms on a visual analogue scale (0-100) before treatment and within 3 hours following treatments. Patients who are interested in standard care alone and not interested in CAM treatments grade their symptoms similarly, and serve as a control group. Primary outcomes are symptomatic relief and secondary outcomes are correlations between belief or disbelief in CAM with the primary outcomes.

Official Title
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Patient Reported Outcomes Following Complementary Medicine Treatments in Hospitalized Patients

Conditions
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Pain, Nausea, Anxiety

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: CAM treatments


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: All hospitalized patients who can consent Exclusion Criteria: Patients who cannot consent

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| CAM with standard care<br>Symptomatic hospitalized people referred by the medical team to CAM treatments on top of standard of care | Other: CAM treatments<br>* CAM treatments last 10-30 minutes<br>|
| Standard care only<br>Symptomatic patients who are referred to CAM treatments but are not interested in such treatments | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Symptomatic relief expressed in Visual Analogue Scales from asymptomatic 0-100 extremely symptomatic |  | within 4 hours following treatment | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| correlations between expectations from CAM as measured on a likert scale (0= disbelief and 5- high belief)and primary outcomes |  | at baseline evaluation (time 0') | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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complementary medicine, hospitalized