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Quality of life-related outcomes from a patient-tailored integrative medicine program: experience of Russian-speaking patients with cancer in Israel

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Abstract

Objective

Complementary/integrative medicine (CIM) is increasingly being integrated with standard supportive cancer care. The effects of CIM on quality of life (QOL) during chemotherapy need to be examined in varied socio-cultural settings. We purpose to explore the impact of CIM on QOL-related outcomes among Russian-speaking (RS) patients with cancer.

Patients and methods

RS patients undergoing chemotherapy receiving standard supportive care were eligible. Patients in the treatment arm were seen by an integrative physician (IP) and treated within a patient-tailored CIM program. Symptoms and QOL were assessed at baseline, at 6, and at 12 weeks with the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), the Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCAW) questionnaire, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30).

Results

Of 70 patients referred to the treatment arm, 50 (71.4 %) underwent IP assessment and CIM treatments. Of 51 referred to the control arm, 38 (76 %) agreed to participate. At 6 weeks, CIM-treated patients reported improved ESAS scores for fatigue (P = 0.01), depression (P = 0.048), appetite (P = 0.008), sleep (P < 0.0001), and general wellbeing (P = 0.004). No improvement was observed among controls. Between-group analysis found CIM-treated patients had improved sleep scores on ESAS (P = 0.019) and EORTC (P = 0.007) at 6 weeks. Social functioning improved between 6 and 12 weeks (EORTC, P = 0.02), and global health status/QOL scale from baseline to 12 weeks (EORTC, P = 0.007).

Conclusion

A patient-tailored CIM treatment program may improve QOL-related outcomes among RS patients undergoing chemotherapy. Integrating CIM in conventional supportive care needs to address cross-cultural aspects of care.

Trial registration

The study protocol was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01860365).

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ms. Ronit Leiba for the statistical analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Integrative Oncology Program, The Oncology Service and Lin Medical Center, Clalit Health Services, Haifa and Western Galilee District, Israel

    Ilanit Shalom Sharabi, Anna Levin, Noah Samuels, Olga Agour, Yehudith Tapiro & Eran Ben-Arye

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, and Integrative Medicine Service, Bnai-Zion Hospital, Haifa, Israel; The Department for Complementary Medicine, Law and Ethics, The International Center for Health, Law and Ethics, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel

    Elad Schiff

  3. Tal Center for Integrative Medicine, Institute of Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

    Noah Samuels

  4. Social-Work Service, The Oncology Service and Lin Medical Center, Clalit Health Services, Haifa and Western Galilee District, Israel

    Olga Agour

  5. Department of Eretz Israel Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Efraim Lev

  6. Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel

    Lital Keinan-Boker

  7. School of Public Health, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Lital Keinan-Boker

  8. Complementary and Traditional Medicine Unit, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Eran Ben-Arye

  9. Clalit Health Services, Haifa and Western Galilee District, Israel

    Eran Ben-Arye

  10. The Oncology Service, Lin Medical Center, 35 Rothschild St., Haifa, Israel

    Eran Ben-Arye

Authors
  1. Ilanit Shalom Sharabi
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  2. Anna Levin
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  3. Elad Schiff
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  4. Noah Samuels
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  5. Olga Agour
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  6. Yehudith Tapiro
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  7. Efraim Lev
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  8. Lital Keinan-Boker
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  9. Eran Ben-Arye
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eran Ben-Arye.

Ethics declarations

The protocol of the study was approved by the Ethics Review Board (Helsinki Committee) of the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, Israel.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

The first and second authors are regarded as co-first author based on their equal contribution to this study, which was performed as part of the first author’s PhD in the University of Haifa, Israel, and the second author’s MD research project in the Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

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Sharabi, I.S., Levin, A., Schiff, E. et al. Quality of life-related outcomes from a patient-tailored integrative medicine program: experience of Russian-speaking patients with cancer in Israel. Support Care Cancer 24, 4345–4355 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3274-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3274-3

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