AWARENESS AND PREVALENCE OF TRADITIONAL AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE IN PATIENTS, APPLICATION TO ORTHOPEDICS AND TRAUMATOLOGY OUTPATİENT CLINIC

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the awareness of complementary and alternative medicine practices and the frequency of treatment usage among patients admitted to an orthopedic outpatient clinic. Method: Patients who presented to the orthopedics outpatient clinic of the University Hospital between November 15 and December 30, 2022, were invited to participate in this study. A questionnaire containing 16 questions about eight different traditional and complementary approaches, designed to determine patients' knowledge of and attitudes toward each of these practices, was administered by the responsible physician through face-to-face interviews. The questionnaires were administered to 637 volunteers. The results were recorded, and statistical analysis was applied. Results: The volunteers were % 54.7 male and 45.3.2% female participants. The mean age of the participants was 41.52 ± 16,349. It was determined that gender (p=0.3) and education level (p=0.207) did not affect awareness of traditional treatment. However, it was determined that the settlement area affected the awareness of traditional treatment (p< 0.05). It has been revealed that the age group with the highest awareness is young adults between 20-30. Conclusions: The popularity of traditional treatment methods and applications is increasing daily. Despite this, it was observed that awareness was low among patients who applied to the orthopedics outpatient clinic. There is a need to train professional health service providers so that the public can access such treatment approaches and increase social awareness.