Knowledge and attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine among medical students in Turkey

Hulya Akan,Çiğdem Apaydin Kaya,Guldal Izbirak,Nejat Demircan,Osman Hayran,Cahit Özer,P Gamze Bucaktepe,Hüseyin A Sahin,Serpil Aydin,Elif Çiğdem Kaspar

doi:10.1186/1472-6882-12-115

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aims to examine knowledge and attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine among medical students in Turkey, and find out whether they want to be trained in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out between October and December 2010 among medical students. Data were collected from a total of seven medical schools.FindingsThe study included 943 medical students. The most well known methods among the students were herbal treatment (81.2 %), acupuncture (80.8 %), hypnosis (78.8 %), body-based practices including massage (77 %) and meditation (65.2 %), respectively. Acupuncture, aromatherapy, herbal treatment and meditation were better known among female participants compared to males (p < 0.05). Females and first year students, generally had more positive attitudes. A larger proportion of female students compared to male students reported that a doctor should be knowledgeable about CAM (p = 0.001), and this knowledge would be helpful in their future professional lives (p = 0.015). Positive attitudes towards and willingness to receive training declined as the number of years spent in the faculty of medicine increased.ConclusionsMajority of the medical students were familiar with the CAM methods widely used in Turkey, while most of them had positive attitudes towards CAM as well as willingness to receive training on the subject, and they were likely to recommend CAM methods to their patients in their future professional lives. With its gradual scientific development and increasing popularity, there appears a need for a coordinated policy in integrating CAM into the medical curriculum, by taking expectations of and feedback from medical students into consideration in setting educational standards.

Highlights

IntroductionAn increased interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is observed among both the general population and health professionals
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) as “medical and health systems, applications and products currently not considered as part of conventional medicine” [1].An increased interest in CAM is observed among both the general population and health professionals
Majority of the medical students were familiar with the CAM methods widely used in Turkey, while most of them had positive attitudes towards CAM as well as willingness to receive training on the subject, and they were likely to recommend CAM methods to their patients in their future professional lives

Summary

Introduction

An increased interest in CAM is observed among both the general population and health professionals. Use of CAM methods has grown in popularity in Turkey. Surveys with patient subgroups have shown that many patients with chronic diseases have used at least one of the CAM methods. Most commonly used methods were herbal treatment, massage and acupuncture, but they shared this information rarely with their primary doctors. Most of these studies indicated that it is important for healthcare professionals to discuss and give counseling about use of CAM to their patients [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]

Methods

Results

Conclusion