Knowledge, attitude and perception of complementary and alternative system of medicine in Tamilnadu and Pudhucherry, South India.

Abstract

Complementary and Alternate medicine (CAM) remains as the major source of healthcare for majority of the Indian population. This widespread resource needs to be strengthened, adequately trained and effectively utilized in the national health care delivery system for delivering an integrated and effective health care system. A cross sectional study was conducted involving 200 adults in two different settings-a community setting (n=100), and a hospital setting (n=100). A semi-structured questionnaire was used. Both in the community and in the hospital, siddha (80%) was the most well-known system of medicine, followed by Yoga (72%) and Naturopathy in the study population. However, the knowledge about the various available CAM therapies still seemed to be limited. Opinion on the integrated approach along with conventional medicine was welcoming. Still more awareness about these systems is required to facilitate integrative medicine in healthcare settings.