<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Articles JournalTitle="Journal of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Management">
  <Article>
    <Journal>
      <PublisherName>Tehran University of Medical Sciences</PublisherName>
      <JournalTitle>Journal of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Management</JournalTitle>
      <Issn>2383-4498</Issn>
      <Volume>4</Volume>
      <Issue>3/4</Issue>
      <PubDate PubStatus="epublish">
        <Year>2018</Year>
        <Month>11</Month>
        <Day>14</Day>
      </PubDate>
    </Journal>
    <title locale="en_US">Assessment of the Tendency to Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients Referring to Ahvaz Urban Pharmacies</title>
    <FirstPage>48</FirstPage>
    <LastPage>52</LastPage>
    <AuthorList>
      <Author>
        <FirstName>Mohammadamin</FirstName>
        <LastName>Abtahi</LastName>
        <affiliation locale="en_US">Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.</affiliation>
      </Author>
      <Author>
        <FirstName>Sepideh</FirstName>
        <LastName>Sayadi</LastName>
        <affiliation locale="en_US">Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.</affiliation>
      </Author>
      <Author>
        <FirstName>Mandana</FirstName>
        <LastName>Izadpanah</LastName>
        <affiliation locale="en_US">Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.</affiliation>
      </Author>
      <Author>
        <FirstName>Maryam</FirstName>
        <LastName>Aghakouchakzadeh</LastName>
        <affiliation locale="en_US">Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.</affiliation>
      </Author>
    </AuthorList>
    <History>
      <PubDate PubStatus="received">
        <Year>2019</Year>
        <Month>03</Month>
        <Day>26</Day>
      </PubDate>
    </History>
    <abstract locale="en_US">Background: Complementary and alternative medicine is defined as &#x201C;diagnosis, prevention,
and treatment, which complements mainstream medicine by contributing to a common
whole, by satisfying a demand not met by belief or by diversifying the conceptual frameworks
of medicine&#x201D;. Alternative medicine may include acupuncture, homeopathy, phytotherapy,
leech therapy, and other methods. According to the public popularity of these methods, we
conducted 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 Likert
scale. 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&#xB1;8.47 years were studied.
One percent of the studied population was uneducated, 41% had a diploma, and 58% had
a university degree. Respectively, 28%, 10%, 40%, 15% of the participants expressed their
confidence 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 least
one of the methods of alternative medicine, like leech therapy. In addition, 33% usually
and 42% sometimes used herbal tea for relieving their physical and mental illness without
consulting the physician, and 25% never used it without consulting. According to the opinion
of respondents, 69% believed that both modern and traditional medicine is effective, 10%
expressed that modern medicine is more effective than traditional medicine, 9% were not
familiar with traditional medicine, and 7% stated that traditional medicine is more effective
than 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 education
about alternative methods seems necessary for the healthcare team and the public.</abstract>
    <web_url>https://jppm.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jppm/article/view/111</web_url>
    <pdf_url>https://jppm.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jppm/article/download/111/58</pdf_url>
  </Article>
</Articles>
