Exploring Maternal Practices and Perspectives on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Efficacy in Pediatric Health Care

Background: The growing interest and practices of mothers towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) have become a striking trend in pediatric health care. The rising predilection of CAM is driven by numerous factors e.g cultural beliefs, lack of satisfaction with conventional treatment modalities and urge for individualized approaches for health care. Objectives: This study is carried out to explore the maternal practices and perspectives towards CAM in context to pediatric health care. Methods: An analytical cross sectional study was carried out at Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base Faisal Hospital, Karachi. Study participants were approached in pediatric OPD. A Simple random sampling method was employed. Inferential statistics (chi square test, p <0.05 ) were used to assess the association among outcome and predictor variables. Binary Logistic Regression test applied to assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics and practices of CAM. Results: A vast majority of mothers i.e 81.10% were consuming CAM therapies in children. Seventy seven percent (77.95%) mothers inform pediatrician regarding the use of CAM in children. A significant association was observed between employment status (p=0.002), ethnicity (p=0.004), level of education (p=0.042), religion (p=0.002) with the maternal use of CAM in children. Conclusion : This study revealed a higher prevalence of CAM use among mothers in context with pediatric health care. The findings of this study provided a valuable insights for healthcare providers and pediatricians to better address the needs and preferences of mothers in promoting effective and safe healthcare practices related to CAM use for treating various ailments in children.