scholarly journals Dental students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine in Australia – An exploratory study

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 102489
Author(s):  
Joon Soo Park ◽  
Amy Page ◽  
Emma Turner ◽  
Jasmine Li ◽  
Marc Tennant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

scholarly journals Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients With Breast Cancer: Exploratory Study of Social Network Forum Data

JMIR Cancer ◽  
10.2196/12536 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. e12536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Béatrice Lognos ◽  
François Carbonnel ◽  
Isabelle Boulze Launay ◽  
Sandra Bringay ◽  
Estelle Guerdoux-Ninot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Nutritional Interventions ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Background Patients and health care professionals are becoming increasingly preoccupied in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that can also be called nonpharmacological interventions (NPIs). In just a few years, this supportive care has gone from solutions aimed at improving the quality of life to solutions intended to reduce symptoms, supplement oncological treatments, and prevent recurrences. Digital social networks are a major vector for disseminating these practices that are not always disclosed to doctors by patients. An exploration of the content of exchanges on social networks by patients suffering from breast cancer can help to better identify the extent and diversity of these practices. Objective This study aimed to explore the interest of patients with breast cancer in CAM from posts published in health forums and French-language social media groups. Methods The retrospective study was based on a French database of 2 forums and 4 Facebook groups between June 3, 2006, and November 17, 2015. The extracted, anonymized, and compiled data (264,249 posts) were analyzed according to the occurrences associated with the NPI categories and NPI subcategories, their synonyms, and their related terms. Results The results showed that patients with breast cancer use mainly physical (37.6%) and nutritional (31.3%) interventions. Herbal medicine is a subcategory that was cited frequently. However, the patients did not mention digital interventions. Conclusions This exploratory study of the main French forums and discussion groups indicates a significant interest in CAM during and after treatments for breast cancer, with primarily physical and nutritional interventions complementing approved treatments. This study highlights the importance of accurate information (vs fake medicine), prescription and monitoring of these interventions, and the mediating role that health professionals must play in this regard.

Perspective of Medical and Dental Undergraduates towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fizza Saher
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Essential Knowledge ◽  
Medical And Dental Students ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Background: The prevalent use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) requires health professionals including doctors and dentists having the essential knowledge to have better recommend their patients. This has lead to an increased need for integration of CAM teaching at the undergraduate level. Thus, the purpose of the study was to assess the perspective of complementary and alternative medicine among Pakistani medical and dental undergraduates. Methods: A questionnaire based cross sectional survey was conducted among first to fifth year undergraduate medical and dental students at Sindh Medical College and Ziauddin University in Karachi, during April until May 2019, using a structured 13-item questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were calculated for baseline characteristics. Frequency and proportions were calculated for categorical variables using SPSS version 20. Results: The response rate was 100% (40.7% for males and 59.3% for females). The mean age of medical and dental students was 20.5±1.39 years. Almost three-fourth of students (75.1%) had the knowledgeof CAM. The most experienced CAM modality amongst all was Yoga (23.4%) and Homeopathy (20%). Nearly 69.4 % of students believed that CAM is beneficial for medical and dental healthcare and 44.1% students will recommend CAM to their patients in future. Almost 39% of students think that CAM should be included into undergraduate medical and dental curriculum. Conclusion: This study showed an encouraging interpretation of both medical and dental students regarding CAM knowledge and benefits. Majority of the students have optimistic attitude towards CAM practice in future and for the integration of CAM studies at undergraduate level.

scholarly journals Complementary and Alternative Medicine on Wikipedia: Opportunities for Improvement

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Koo
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Conventional Medicine ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Word Count ◽  
Good Article ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Wikipedia, a free and collaborative Internet encyclopedia, has become one of the most popular sources of free information on the Internet. However, there have been concerns over the quality of online health information, particularly that on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This exploratory study aimed to evaluate several page attributes of articles on CAM in the English Wikipedia. A total of 97 articles were analyzed and compared with eight articles of broad categories of therapies in conventional medicine using the Mann-WhitneyUtest. Based on the Wikipedia editorial assessment grading, 4% of the articles attained “good article” status, 34% required considerable editing, and 56% needed substantial improvements in their content. The median daily access of the articles over the previous 90 days was 372 (range: 7–4,214). The median word count was 1840 with a readability of grade 12.7 (range: 9.4–17.7). Medians of word count and citation density of the CAM articles were significantly lower than those in the articles of conventional medicine therapies. In conclusion, despite its limitations, the general public will continue to access health information on Wikipedia. There are opportunities for health professionals to contribute their knowledge and to improve the accuracy and completeness of the CAM articles on Wikipedia.

scholarly journals Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients With Breast Cancer: Exploratory Study of Social Network Forum Data (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Béatrice Lognos ◽  
François Carbonnel ◽  
Isabelle Boulze Launay ◽  
Sandra Bringay ◽  
Estelle Guerdoux-Ninot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Nutritional Interventions ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

BACKGROUND Patients and health care professionals are becoming increasingly preoccupied in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that can also be called nonpharmacological interventions (NPIs). In just a few years, this supportive care has gone from solutions aimed at improving the quality of life to solutions intended to reduce symptoms, supplement oncological treatments, and prevent recurrences. Digital social networks are a major vector for disseminating these practices that are not always disclosed to doctors by patients. An exploration of the content of exchanges on social networks by patients suffering from breast cancer can help to better identify the extent and diversity of these practices. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore the interest of patients with breast cancer in CAM from posts published in health forums and French-language social media groups. METHODS The retrospective study was based on a French database of 2 forums and 4 Facebook groups between June 3, 2006, and November 17, 2015. The extracted, anonymized, and compiled data (264,249 posts) were analyzed according to the occurrences associated with the NPI categories and NPI subcategories, their synonyms, and their related terms. RESULTS The results showed that patients with breast cancer use mainly physical (37.6%) and nutritional (31.3%) interventions. Herbal medicine is a subcategory that was cited frequently. However, the patients did not mention digital interventions. CONCLUSIONS This exploratory study of the main French forums and discussion groups indicates a significant interest in CAM during and after treatments for breast cancer, with primarily physical and nutritional interventions complementing approved treatments. This study highlights the importance of accurate information (vs fake medicine), prescription and monitoring of these interventions, and the mediating role that health professionals must play in this regard.

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