Profiling the Use of Complementary Alternative Medicines among Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: Results from a Single Center Survey

Figure 4

Efficacy indices of CAMs as reported by IBD patients responding to the survey. Defined per CAM as the % of patients reporting very helpful (1) and somewhat helpful (2) outcomes compared to the total number of patients responding to the efficacy question. Rectangle orange: mind-body medicine; rectangle blue: medicinal practices; rectangle green: herbal medicines; rectangle gray: other CAMs; rectangle yellow: cannabis. ^$CAMs with >80% efficacy index with a minimal sample size cut-off (). ^Other CAMs include Brazinfort, blueberry fennel tea, vegetarian diet, osteopathy, low FODMAP diet, melatonin drops, ozone therapy, “other herbs,” glucosamine, foot reflexology, omega-3 fatty acids, psyllium, reiki, and light therapy. Refer to glossary of terms for definitions. (^&): CAMs with prior evidence in inducing and/or maintaining clinical remission of IBD. (^~): CAMs with prior evidence in inducing and/or maintaining endoscopic remission of IBD. (⁺): CAMs with prior evidence in inducing decreased expression of proinflammatory biomarkers or increased expression of anti-inflammatory biomarkers [42, 47, 49, 50, 54, 56, 57, 64–68].