Investigation of the Knowledge and Attitude of Physicians About Traditional and Complementary Medicine

Year 2020, Volume: 1 Issue: 3, 118 - 124, 15.12.2020

Rumeysa Samanci , Volkan Murat Samanci , Mehmet Göktuğ Günel , Sena Nur Yıldız , Sarfinaz Ataoğlu

Abstract

Objective: Traditional and complementary medicine (TACM), which are increasing all over the world, have become more common in our country. On the date of 27.10.2014, regulation on TACM practices which includes 15 different methods has been published in our country. Although TACM methods have become legal in our country, they have not yet been included in the curriculum of the medical faculties and most physicians do not have enough knowledge about them. In this study, we aimed to increase the awareness of physicians about TACM, working at various levels of the medical faculty and to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of pyhsicians about TACM methods.
Material-Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted between May and July 2018, among physicians working at Düzce University Faculty of Medicine. Questionnaires were administered to physicians participating in the survey, which includes descriptive questions and 25 questions evaluating the knowledge attitudes and behaviors of the participants about TACM methods.
Results: 50 physicians participated in our study. Acupuncture (86%), cupping (68%) and leech therapy (68%) were the most well-informed practices, respectively. The number of physicians with certificates participating in our study was quite low. 58% of the participants wanted to know more about TACM methods. The rate of physicians recommending TACM to their patients was found to be 38.3%. Also, 77.6% of the participants thought that TACM methods should be used as complementary. While 44.7% of the participants who participated in our study wanted TACM methods to be included in the curriculum, 21.3% did not. All of the participants think that the studies in the field of TACM are insufficient and as the reason, 56.4% believe that there is no scientific basis and 33.3% believe it is the bias of physicians.
Conclusion: As a result, due to the position of TACM, it has become a necessary for any physician to have the correct information even if they are not practitioners.

Keywords

Traditional Medicine, Complementary Medicine, Pysicians, Knowledge, Attitude

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