Work

Iranian healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and use of complementary and alternative medicine: a cross sectional study

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The present study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and performance of Iranian Healthcare Professionals (HP) about Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) modalities. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 210 HP in 2019. Samples were selected from healthcare centers, clinics, and hospitals using census sampling. Data collection tools included demographic information, attitude, knowledge, and the amount of use of CAM modalities. Data analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 24. RESULTS: In this study, the response rate was 85.3% (n=209). A majority of respondents had a positive attitude toward CAM (n=166, 79%), but their level of knowledge was limited (n=154, 73.6%). The most commonly used CAM modalities were herbal medicine (93.2%), exercise therapy (75.4%), and hydrotherapy (75.2%), respectively, and the least commonly used ones were magnetic therapy (2.9%) and hypnosis (4.8%). The most important reasons for the use of CAM modalities by HP included fewer side effects than medical treatments (57.4%), its lowest cost than medical treatments (34.9%), non-serious disease with no need for referral to a clinic (32.1%), and its more convenient access than medical treatments (30.6%). The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the education level and the use of CAM modalities (p<0.05). There was also a significant relationship between the suggestion of CAM modalities and the amount of use of these modalities, and those who used these modalities would also have recommended them to their clients more frequently (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results showed that most of HP used at least one of the CAM modalities and had a positive attitude towards CAM. As the level of knowledge was limited, training courses should be implemented to increase health practitioner's level of knowledge on CAM.

Source: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies

DOI: 10.1186/s12906-021-03421-z

Authors: Alireza Jafari, Mohaddeseh Zanganeh, Zahra Kazemi, Elaheh Lael-Monfared, Hadi Tehrani

Institutions: Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydarieh University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies

Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,195