Use of Complementary and Alternative Medications in Children

Objectives: To assess the use of Complementary and Alternative Medications (CAM) in a pediatric population.

Methods: A case cohort design was used with subjects being collected from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital dental clinic. Caregivers were given a survey to complete with questions based on previously validated surveys.

Results: The mean age of children whose caregivers were surveyed was 10.6±4.4 years. Over 80% of caregivers had at least a high school education.  Ten percent of children were reported to have used CAM in the past 6 months.  Children were in pain for a mean of 10.7±11.5 days. Children whose caregivers reported CAM use were in pain for a significantly greater period of time (30 days), compared to the Non-CAM users (8.4 days) (p=.007). The most commonly used CAM was multivitamin (non-prescription) followed by Echinacea.  There were no gender or ethnic associations with CAM use. There was no association between insurance type and CAM use.

Conclusions: Complementary and Alternative medication use needs to be assessed in children presenting for outpatient dental care.