Complementary and alternative health care use in young children with physical disabilities waiting for rehabilitation services in Canada.

PURPOSE: We wished to determine the frequency of complementary and alternative health care (CAHC) use in preschool aged children with physical disabilities (PD) waiting for public rehabilitation services in the province of Quebec (Canada), to evaluate its effectiveness from the parents' perspective and to explore factors associated with its utilisation.

METHOD: Children with PD referred to rehabilitation centres from two Montreal hospitals were recruited. We evaluated the use of CAHC and its effectiveness from the parents' perspective in a cross-sectional manner, using descriptive statistics. We explored factors associated with utilisation, using logistic regression models.

RESULTS: In this group of children with PD (n = 206, mean age: 2.6 years), 31 (15%) used CAHC and 15 (48.4%) of those tried more than one type. CAHC was considered at least moderately beneficial by parents in 53% of the cases. The use of CAHC was higher among children with low health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and children whose mothers were more educated and considered themselves as Canadian (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Although the use of CAHC by young children with PD was low, use of CAHC was higher among children with lower HRQOL and whose mothers were highly educated and Canadian. CAHC use should be evaluated by health providers to better educate parents of children with PD, which may help them to make the best decisions regarding their child's treatment while waiting for rehabilitation services.