Assessment of the Tendency to Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients Referring to Ahvaz Urban Pharmacies
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Abstract
Background: Complementary and alternative medicine is defined as “diagnosis, prevention,and treatment, which complements mainstream medicine by contributing to a commonwhole, by satisfying a demand not met by belief or by diversifying the conceptual frameworksof medicine”. Alternative medicine may include acupuncture, homeopathy, phytotherapy,leech therapy, and other methods. According to the public popularity of these methods, weconducted this study to investigate the views of the public about these treatments.Methods: To perform this study, we designed a questionnaire scoring on a 10 five-point Likertscale. The goal of the study was explained to patients before filling out the questionnaire.Results: In this research, 100 cases with an average age of 30±8.47 years were studied.One percent of the studied population was uneducated, 41% had a diploma, and 58% hada university degree. Respectively, 28%, 10%, 40%, 15% of the participants expressed theirconfidence in Iranian traditional medicine as follows: very high, high, medium, and low,and 7% did not believe in alternative medicine. Also, 24% of respondents had used at leastone of the methods of alternative medicine, like leech therapy. In addition, 33% usuallyand 42% sometimes used herbal tea for relieving their physical and mental illness withoutconsulting the physician, and 25% never used it without consulting. According to the opinionof respondents, 69% believed that both modern and traditional medicine is effective, 10%expressed that modern medicine is more effective than traditional medicine, 9% were notfamiliar with traditional medicine, and 7% stated that traditional medicine is more effectivethan modern medicine.Conclusion: According to the results, most of the participants believed in alternative methods,especially along with modern medicine. For this reason, accurate and scientific educationabout alternative methods seems necessary for the healthcare team and the public.
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[18] Yeo AS, Yeo JC, Yeo C, Lee CH, Lim LF, Lee TL. Perceptions of complementary and alternative medicine amongst medical students in Singapore--a survey. Acupunct Med. 2005; 23(1):19-26.
[DOI:10.1136/aim.23.1.19] [PMID]
[19] Chan PS, Wong MM. Physicians and complementary-alternative medicine: Training, attitudes, and practices in Hawaii. Hawaii Med J. 2004; 63(6):176-81. [PMID]
[2] Gunawan F, Wibowo YR, Bunawan NC, Turner JH. Controversy: Hirudotherapy (leech therapy) as an alternative treatment for osteoarthritis. Acta Med Indones. 2015; 47(2):176-80. [PMID]
[3] Jiang C, Jiang L, Qin Q. Conventional treatments plus acupuncture for asthma in adults and adolescent: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019; 2019:9580670. [DOI:10.1155/2019/9580670] [PMID]
[4] Wang LH, Huang W, Wei D, Ding DG, Liu YR, Wang JJ, et al. Mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for simple obesity: An evi-dence-based review of clinical and animal studies on simple obesity. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019; 2019:5796381. [DOI:10.1155/2019/5796381] [PMID]
[5] Şenel E. Evolution of homeopathy: A scientometric analysis of global homeopathy literature between 1975 and 2017. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2019; 34:165-73. [DOI:10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.11.018] [PMID]
[6] Lopes CMC, Lazzarini JR, Soares Júnior JM, Baracat EC. Phytotherapy: Yesterday, today, and forever? Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2018; 64(9):765-8. [DOI:10.1590/1806-9282.64.09.765] [PMID]
[7] Hohmann CD, Stange R, Steckhan N, Robens S, Ostermann T, Paetow A, et al. The effectiveness of leech therapy in chronic low back pain. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018; 115(47):785-92. [DOI:10.3238/arzte�-bl.2018.0785] [PMID] [PMCID]
[8] Reynolds A, OBoyle C. Nurses’ experiences of leech therapy in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Br J Nurs. 2016; 25(13):729-33. [DOI:10.12968/bjon.2016.25.13.729]
[9] Eardley S, Bishop FL, Prescott P, Cardini F, Brinkhaus B, Santos-Rey K, et al., A systematic literature review of complementary and alternative medicine prevalence in EU. Forsch Komplementmed. 2012; 19(Suppl 2):18-28. [DOI:10.1159/000342708] [PMID]
[10] Wode K, Henriksson R, Sharp L, Stoltenberg A, Hök Nordberg J. Cancer patients’ use of complementary and alternative medicine in Sweden: A cross-sectional study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2019; 19(1):62. [DOI:10.1186/s12906-019-2452-5] [PMID] [PMCID]
[11] Harris PE, Cooper KL, Relton C, Thomas KJ. Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use by the general population: A systematic review and update. Int J Clin Pract. 2012; 66(10):924-39. [DOI:10.1111/j.1742-1241.2012.02945.x] [PMID]
[12] Bordbar MR, Pasalar M, Safaei S, Kamfiroozi R, Zareifar S, Zekavata OR, et al. Complementary and alternative medicine use in thalassemia patients in Shiraz, southern Iran: A cross-sectional study. J Tradit Complement Med. 2018; 8(1):141-6. [DOI:10.1016/j. jtcme.2017.05.002]
[13] Wahner-Roedler DL, Vincent A, Elkin PL, Loehrer LL, Cha SS, Bauer BA. Physicians’ attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine and their knowledge of specific therapies: A survey at an academic medical center. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006; 3(4):109868. [DOI:10.1093/exam/nel036] [PMID] [PMCID]
[14] Busari AA, Mufutau MA. High prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use among patients with sickle cell disease in a tertiary hospital in Lagos, South West, Nigeria. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017; 17(1):299. [DOI:10.1186/s12906-017-1812-2] [PMID] [PMCID]
[15] Zezos P, Nguyen GC. Use of complementary and alternative medicine in inflammatory bowel disease around the world. Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2017; 46(4):679-88. [DOI:10.1016/j. gtc.2017.08.001] [PMID]
[16] Furnham A, Kirkcaldy B. The health beliefs and behaviours of orthodox and complementary medicine clients. Br J Clin Psychol. 1996; 35(1):49-61. [DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8260.1996.tb01161.x]
[17] Patel SJ, Kemper KJ, Kitzmiller JP. Physician perspectives on education, training, and implementation of complementary and alternative medicine. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2017; 8:499-503. [DOI:10.2147/ AMEP.S138572] [PMID] [PMCID]
[18] Yeo AS, Yeo JC, Yeo C, Lee CH, Lim LF, Lee TL. Perceptions of complementary and alternative medicine amongst medical students in Singapore--a survey. Acupunct Med. 2005; 23(1):19-26.
[DOI:10.1136/aim.23.1.19] [PMID]
[19] Chan PS, Wong MM. Physicians and complementary-alternative medicine: Training, attitudes, and practices in Hawaii. Hawaii Med J. 2004; 63(6):176-81. [PMID]
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 4 No 3/4 (2018) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Keywords | ||
| CAM Conventional medicine Iranian traditional medicine | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Abtahi M, Sayadi S, Izadpanah M, Aghakouchakzadeh M. Assessment of the Tendency to Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients Referring to Ahvaz Urban Pharmacies. JPPM. 2018;4(3/4):48-52.
