Effects of integrative medicine on pain and anxiety among oncology inpatients.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the effectiveness of integrative medicine (IM) therapies on pain and anxiety among oncology inpatients.

METHODS: Retrospective data obtained from electronic medical records identified patients with an oncology International Classification of Diseases-9 code who were admitted to a large Midwestern hospital between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2012. Outcomes were change in patient-reported pain and anxiety, rated before and after individual IM treatment sessions, using a numeric scale (0-10).

RESULTS: Of 10948 hospital admissions over the study period, 1833 (17%) included IM therapy. Older patients had reduced odds of receiving any IM therapy (odds ratio [OR]: 0.97, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.96 to 0.98) and females had 63% (OR: 1.63, 95% CI = 1.38 to 1.92) higher odds of receiving any IM therapy compared with males. Moderate (OR: 1.97, 95% CI = 1.61 to 2.41), major (OR: 3.54, 95% CI = 2.88 to 4.35), and extreme (OR: 5.96, 95% CI = 4.71 to 7.56) illness severity were significantly associated with higher odds of receiving IM therapy compared with admissions of minor illness severity. After receiving IM therapy, patients averaged a 46.9% (95% CI = 45.1% to 48.6%, P <.001) reduction in pain and a 56.1% (95% CI = 54.3% to 58.0%, P <.001) reduction in anxiety. Bodywork and traditional Chinese Medicine therapies were most effective for reducing pain, while no significant differences among therapies for reducing anxiety were observed.

CONCLUSIONS: IM services to oncology inpatients resulted in substantial decreases in pain and anxiety. Observational studies using electronic medical records provide unique information about real-world utilization of IM. Future studies are warranted and should explore potential synergy of opioid analgesics and IM therapy for pain control.