PREDICTORS OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE USE AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Objective: This research was aimed to investigate the effects of need-based, enabling, and predisposing factors on the use of complementary and alternative medicine that emerged only during the COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals.
 Method: This study was conducted with a descriptive design. The General Self-Efficacy Scale was used to assess self-efficacy, the Coronavirus Fear Scale was used to assess fear, and the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire was used to assess attitude. In total, 374 healthcare professionals were included. Data were collected according to the complementary and alternative medicine Healthcare Model. In the analysis of the data, mean and standard deviation (SD) are given for quantitative data and percentage is given for categorical data. In addition, multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed.
 Results: 53.2% of the healthcare professionals reported the use of at least one form of complementary and alternative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of complementary and alternative medicine showed a relationship between gender, the Coronavirus Fear Scale and the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire scores in predisposing factors. An association between the use of complementary and alternative medicine and the occupation in enabling factors was observed. The use of complementary and alternative medicine was found related to the nature of the workplace in need-based factors. The use of complementary and alternative medicine showed no association with age, marital status, education level, working time, chronic conditions, COVID-19 diagnosis, working status and General Self-Efficacy scores of the healthcare professionals in the COVID-19 clinic.
 Conclusion: This study concluded that fear associated with COVID-19 and a positive attitude toward complementary and alternative medicine resulted in increased use of complementary and alternative medicine. It was observed that the use of complementary and alternative medicine in health workers working in intensive care, female health workers and nurses was higher than the others.