Evaluation of Attitudes and Using About Complementary and Alternative Medicine of People Aged 18 and Older In Antalya

Abstract

Objectives: It is aimed to evaluate the information, attitudes and utilization rates of complementary and alternative medicine forms of individuals aged 18 years and over who apply two outpatient clinics affiliated to Department of Family Medicine of Akdeniz University Hospital. Materials and Forms: This cross-sectional and descriptive study has been conducted by way of face-to-face questioning. The statistical analyses have been performed using SPSS ver. 22.0. The sample size has been calculated as 400, with the “OpenEpi.Version 3 Open Source Calculator”, with the reliability level calculated as 99%, the frequency rate as 50%, the confidence interval as 5% and the sample error as 0.05. The Chi-Square, Kruksal-Wallis test and Spearman correlation analysis were used. Results: A total of 417 people participated in the study. Rate of CAM usage of participants was 23.5’%. Approximately 10% of respondents reported using CAM forms in addition to their prescription drugs. Phytoterapy which contains the herbal products, was used most common CAM method with 73.9%. Other CAM forms used by participants were ozone treatment (9%), hidrotherapy (4.1%), hirudotherapy (9%) and meditation (4%). It was reported that 20.4% of the participants for respiratory symptoms, 12% for digestive system symptoms, 7% for pain and 6.2% for weight loss preferred CAM as the first treatment. Conclusion: CAM is being used by more and more people all over the world and in Turkey. The proportion of people using CAM in Turkey is lower than in developed countries. Most patients are hesitant to provide information to their physicians about CAM treatments they are using, thinking they will not approve. Further studies on the use of CAM forms in Turkey are needed.

Keywords: Complementary Medicine, Alternative Medicine, CAM, prevalence.

DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/5-4-21