RECENT RESEARCH
a national level , the 2021 annual conference of the Swiss Society of Pediatrics was entirely dedicated to the topic of integrative medicine .
Methods : Using a cross-sectional online survey , this study investigated congress participants ’ evaluation and feedback with the aim to assess whether the program had met their objectives and to get empirical data on their attitude , expectations and needs regarding pediatric complementary and integrative medicine . Descriptive methods were used to present the results .
Results : Among 632 participants of the conference , 228 completed the evaluation form ( response rate 36 %). The overall feedback about the congress and the main theme of pediatric integrative medicine was clearly positive . The majority of respondents had achieved their educational objectives including complementary and integrative medicine issues . 82 % were motivated to learn more about complementary and integrative medicine and 66 % were stimulated to integrate complementary therapies into their professional practice .
Conclusion : This study from Switzerland confirms the interest in integrative medicine among pediatricians and supports the need for pre- and postgraduate pediatric training on topics related to complementary and integrative medicine . Developing and adapting training and continuing medical education based on evaluations of participant feedback can promote professional development and improve patient care for the benefit of physicians and patients .
Ng JY , Abdelkader W , Lokker C .
Tracking discussions of complementary , alternative , and integrative medicine in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic : a monthby-month sentiment analysis of Twitter data . BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies , 2022 ; 22 , Article number : 105 .
Background : Coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) is a novel infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS-CoV-2 ).
Despite the paucity of evidence , various complementary , alternative and integrative medicines ( CAIMs ) have been being touted as both preventative and curative . We conducted sentiment and emotion analysis with the intent of understanding CAIM content related to COVID-19 being generated on Twitter across 9 months .
Methods : Tweets relating to CAIM and COVID-19 were extracted from the George Washington University Libraries Dataverse Coronavirus tweets dataset from March 03 to November 30 , 2020 . We trained and tested a machine learning classifier using a large , pre-labelled Twitter dataset , which was applied to predict the sentiment of each CAIM-related tweet , and we used a natural language processing package to identify the emotions based on the words contained in the tweets .
Results : Our dataset included 28 713 English-language Tweets . The number of CAIM-related tweets during the study period peaked in May 2020 , then dropped off sharply over the subsequent three months ; the fewest CAIM-related tweets were collected during August 2020 and remained low for the remainder of the collection period . Most tweets ( n = 15 612 , 54 %) were classified as positive , 31 % were neutral ( n = 8803 ) and 15 % were classified as negative ( n = 4298 ). The most frequent emotions expressed across tweets were trust , followed by fear , while surprise and disgust were the least frequent . Though volume of tweets decreased over the 9 months of the study , the expressed sentiments and emotions remained constant .
Conclusion : The results of this sentiment analysis enabled us to establish key CAIMs being discussed at the intersection of COVID-19 across a 9-month period on Twitter . Overall , the majority of our subset of tweets were positive , as were the emotions associated with the words found within them . This may be interpreted as public support for CAIM , however , further qualitative investigation is warranted . Such future directions may be used to combat misinformation and improve public health strategies surrounding the use of social media information .
Mora DC , Overvåg G , Jong MC . et al .
Complementary and alternative medicine modalities used to treat adverse effects of anti-cancer treatment among children and young adults : a systematic review and metaanalysis of randomized controlled trials . BMC Complement Med Ther . 2022 ; 22 , 97 . https :// doi . org / 10.1186 / s12906-022-03537-w
Background : Dealing with the symptom burden of cancer diagnosis and treatment has led parents to seek different self-management strategies including Alternative and Complementary Medicine ( CAM ). The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis about the use and effect of CAM modalities to treat adverse effects of conventional cancer treatment among children and young adults .
Methods : Six scientific research databases were used to identify randomized controlled trials ( RCTs ) from 1990 to September 2020 . Included studies investigated the use of CAM to treat cancer treatment related adverse effects in children and young adults compared to controls .
Results : Twenty RCTs comprising 1,069 participants were included in this review . The included studies investigated acupuncture , mind – body therapies , supplements , and vitamins for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting ( CINV ), oral mucositis , and anxiety among children and young adults who underwent conventional cancer treatment . Seven studies ( 315 participants ) were included in the meta-analysis . The overall effect of CAM ( including acupuncture and hypnosis only ) on chemotherapy-induced nausea and / or vomiting and controls was statistically significant with a standard mean difference of -0.54 , 95 % CI [ -0.77 , -0.31 ] I2 = 0 % ( p < 0.00001 ). There was a significant difference between acupuncture and controls ( n = 5 ) for intensity and / or episodes of CINV with an SMD -0.59 , 95 % CI [ -0.85 , -0.33 ] ( p < 0.00001 ). No significant difference was found between hypnosis and controls ( n = 2 ) for severity or episodes of CINV with an SMD -0.41 , 95 % CI [ -1.09 , 0.27 ] I2 = 41 % ( p = 0.19 ).
106 | vol28 | no2 | JATMS