Beyond Conventional Care: The use of Alternative Medicine by Head and Neck Cancer Patients in Pakistan – A Retrospective study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence, utilisation and association of diagnostic delay, tumour stage and
recurrence with alternative medicine among head and neck cancer patients having undergone surgical resection.
Method: The retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2024 at the Department of
Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised adult patients
who underwent surgical resection of primary head and neck cancers from January 1, 2017, to January 31, 2019. Data
was collected from the patient electronic medical records related to tumour characteristics along with details
regarding treatment and exposure to alternative therapy. Data was analysed using SPSS 23.
Results: Of the 125 patients with mean age 46.71±12.6 years, 98(78.4%) were male and 27(21.6%) were female.
Overall, 33(26.4%) patients reported AM exposure. Most patients presented with advanced-stage disease 98(83.4%),
and 28(28.6%) of them had sought alternative treatments prior to conventional medical care. Majority of patients
had an undergraduate education 92(86.6%), were minimum wage earners 114(91.2%), and an early recurrence was
noted in 59(47%) cases. There was no significant difference with respect to cancer stage, levels of education and
income, and recurrence rate between those who sought alternative medicine and thoe who did not (p>0.05).
Conclusion: A significant number of oral cancer patients had utilised alternative medicine. However, the practice
was not correlated with disease severity, socioeconomic status or disease recurrence.
Key Words: Complementary therapy, Traditional healers, Delayed diagnosis, Recurrence, Herbal medicine.