Knowledge Level and Opinions of Secondary School Students About Traditional and Complementary Medicine

Year 2021, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 20 - 26, 15.04.2021

Onur Öztürk , Mustafa Ünal , Muhammet Ali Oruç , Ali Timucin Atayoglu , Mustafa Selçuk , Gülşah Öztürk , Muhammed Emin Göktepe

Abstract

Objective: The place of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) practices in modern health services has been under intensive debate over recent years. Currently, this subject matter is not included in the curricula across educational levels below the bachelor's degree. In this study, the level of awareness and opinions about T&CM were investigated among secondary school students.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the level of awareness and opinions about T&CM were examined among secondary school students. A survey was administered to students attending the 9th-12th grades at randomly selected schools in the Asarcık and Canik districts of Samsun.
Results: This study included 459 students. Most of the participating students were males (59.7%). It was determined that; of the approaches in T&CM, the highest level of awareness was about 'hypnosis' (67.7%). It was found out that information about T&CM approaches was mostly acquired from the media (32.0%). Of the student opinions about T&CM, 40.7% were positive. The percentage of students thinking that classical medicine and T&CM can be integrated and complement each other was 32.5% (n=149). Most of the students with a family member utilizing T&CM were wishing to work in the health sector in the future (32.1%) (p=0.02) and aiming to have a T&CM-related job more than other participants (32.7%) (p=0.001).
Conclusion: The level of awareness about T&CM was found to be low among secondary school students. If health literacy education in schools is organized better, awareness of T&CM may grow.

Keywords

Traditional medicine, Complementary medicine, Secondary school, Student

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