Impact of the Perceived Threat of COVID-19 on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine During the Pandemic by Individuals with Pre-Existing Chronic Disease: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: In particular, it is known that those with chronic illnesses experience more serious COVID-19 symptoms, with an increased risk of mortality. Individuals with chronic diseases turn to complementary and alternative medicine to protect themselves from the pandemic and to strengthen their immune systems.

Primary Study Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on the use of complementary and alternative medicine by individuals with pre-existing chronic diseases during the pandemic.

Methods: The study used a cross-sectional survey.

Setting: The study was conducted between January and March 2021, using the Google Forms.

Participants: This study included participants from the Turkish population. The sample consisted of 372 individuals with chronic illnesses who agreed to participate in the study. A Personal Information Form and a Perceived COVID-19 Threat Form were used to collect data online.

Results: The mean age of the participants with chronic illnesses was 44.23 ± 17.45 years. During the pandemic, 84.7% of individuals used complementary and alternative medicine, and 50.5% of them intended to strengthen the immune system. They stated that they mostly preferred biological-based treatments. The mean score of perceived threat of COVID-19 to individuals with chronic disease was 23.06 ± 4.62. A significant correlation was found between the total score of perceived COVID-19 threat of chronically ill individuals and their use of complementary and integrative treatments (P < .05).

Conclusions: The study showed that most chronically ill individuals used complementary and integrative treatments for COVID-19. It was seen that the perceived COVID-19 threat scores of such individuals who chose to use these treatments were high.