Pharmacists' Patterns of Use, Knowledge, and Attitudes Toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Background: Patients are showing an increasing interest in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Most nurses are open to the adoption of CAM into clinical nursing practice, but they may experience a lack of knowledge about the safe and effective use of these therapies. Several studies concerning nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward CAM have been published, but only in one, the authors (Shorofi and Arbon) used a validated questionnaire. In Italy, there are no validated questionnaires to investigate this aspect of nursing practice. Purpose: To test the psychometric properties of the Italian Shorofi and Arbon questionnaire for use with Italian nurses. Methods: A forward–backward translation method was used to translate the questionnaire from English to Italian. Content validity, face validity and reliability were established. Results and Conclusions: This study examined the potential usefulness of the Shorofi and Arbon questionnaire for the evaluation of CAM knowledge of Italian speaking nurses, which showed good content validity and good reliability.

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A Survey of Medical Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Urmia, Iran

Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1177/2156587215605751 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 306-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mahshid Sadeghi ◽

Soheila Rabiepoor ◽

Aida Sefidani Forough ◽

Shiva Jabbari ◽

Shahram Shahabi

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Neuromuscular Disorders ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Study Results ◽

Data Collection Instrument ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Personal beliefs of medical students may interfere with their tendency for learning Complementary and Alternative Medicine concepts. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of medical students toward complementary and alternative medicine in Urmia, Iran. A structured questionnaire was used as data collection instrument. One hundred questionnaires were returned. Thirty-one percent of students reported use of alternative medicine for at least once. Iranian Traditional Medicine was the main type of alternative medicine used by medical students (93.5%). Neuromuscular disorders were the main indication of alternative medicine use among students (34.4%). Ninety percent of participants demonstrated competent knowledge about acupuncture while the lowest scores belonged to homeopathy (12%). Study results showed that 49% of medical students had positive attitudes and demonstrated a willingness to receive training on the subject. Thus, there appears a necessity to integrate complementary and alternative medicine into the medical curriculum, by taking expectations and feedbacks of medical students into consideration.

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STUDENT KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE BEFORE AND AFTER COMPLETION OF A CORE CURRICULUM.

The Journal of Physician Assistant Education ◽

10.1097/01367895-200516020-00039 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 134

Author(s):

T. Colletti ◽

P. Robinson

Keyword(s):

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Core Curriculum ◽

Student Knowledge ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes ◽

Before And After ◽

Complementary And Alternative

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Knowledge and Attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Senior Medical Students in King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2016/9370721 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Sami H. Alzahrani ◽

Jamil Bashawri ◽

Emad M. Salawati ◽

Marwan A. Bakarman

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Medical Students ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Older Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes ◽

King Abdulaziz University ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Objectives. This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes regarding complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in medical students in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it evaluated their views on the incorporation of CAM in their medical syllabus.Methods. The study was conducted by selecting a cross-sectional sample of senior medical students in the Faculty of Medicine. A validated and reliable self-administered questionnaire was used to explore the knowledge, attitude, and benefits of CAM. It was distributed to a sample of 273 students.Results. The study included 242 students, making the response rate 88.6%. Only two-thirds of students (62.4%) were aware of acupuncture principles and only 17.4% recognized that chiropractic is associated with pain management. The knowledge of common herbs such as St. John’s Wort,Echinacea, andGinkgo bilobawas limited among the students. Older students had a positive CAM attitude compared to younger students (p=0.027).Conclusion. Students attitudes toward CAM learning were encouraging regardless of their limited knowledge on the subject. A high percentage of students agreed that CAM in combination with conventional therapy is beneficial in treating unusual cases, but the choice of CAM should be based on evidence. Furthermore, medical students are still reluctant to have CAM practitioners in their referral network.

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From disappointment to holistic ideals: a qualitative study on motives and experiences of using complementary and alternative medicine in Sweden

Journal of Public Health Research ◽

10.4081/jphr.2015.538 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jenny-Ann Danell

Keyword(s):

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Individual Responsibility ◽

Qualitative Understanding ◽

Patterns Of Use ◽

Conventional Health Care ◽

Design And Methods ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Background. Recent studies indicate increased use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in western societies, to ameliorate health problems. Even if there is substantial research on general patterns of use, there is limited knowledge on individual motives. This study contributes to a qualitative understanding of experiences of choosing and using CAM. Design and methods. This study consists of in-depth interviews with 10 CAM users in Sweden. The participants represent different backgrounds and experiences of using CAM. The interviews have been analysed in accordance with content analysis. Results. In analysing experiences of choosing and using CAM four main themes were identified: frustration and critique, values and ideology, individual responsibility, and combining treatments. In general, the participants were highly reflexive on issues concerning their health. They highlighted their own role and responsibility, combined a variety of treatments, and continuously dealt with questions on risks, even if they had relatively different approaches to if and when to use CAM. The results also show that motives may change over time. Even if initial choices were closely related to frustration and critique of conventional treatments (for example, by perceiving conventional health care as limited, not receiving proper diagnoses, or being critical to conventional drugs) was long-term use motivated by ideological characteristics of CAM (such as holistic and individualized treatments, and extensive interaction with practitioners). Conclusions. Four main themes, concerning experiences of choosing and using CAM were identified. This study also supports the idea that initial motives for choosing CAM may differ from those explaining long-term use.

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