Public knowledge about traditional and complementary medicine

Year 2019, Volume: 5 Issue: 5, 861 - 867, 04.09.2019

Başak Bilir Kaya , Melike Şahin

https://doi.org/10.18621/eurj.429651

Abstract

Objective:
The aim of this study was to investigate public knowledge about traditional and
complementary medicine.

Methods: In a physical medicine
and rehabilitation hospital, questionnaires were administered to 534
volunteers. The questionnaires comprised of questions regarding demographic
data such as age, gender and educational level and 16 additional questions
about traditional and complementary medicine defitions. These definitions were
directly adopted from Ministry of Health Department of Traditional and Complementery
Medical Practices. The results were recorded and statistical analysis were carried
out.

Results: The volunteers were 44.6%
male and 55.4% female). Acupuncture definition was known to 57.7% volunteers;
this rate was 26.6% in phytotherapy, 32.2% in apitherapy, 43.4% in hypnosis,
15.2% in hirudotherapy, 28.7% in homeopathy, 11.9% in chiropractic, 32.2% in
cupping therapy, 40.4% in wet cupping therapy, 29% in maggot therapy, 27.3% in
mesotherapy, 18% in prolotherapy, 22.1% in osteopathy, 38.8% in ozone therapy,
40.6% in reflexology, 55.2% in music therapy. Women’s correct answers regarding
hypnosis, reflexology and music therapy were found to be statistically
significantly higher than men. Acupuncture and osteopathy definitions are
better known to 18-30 years old volunteers than volunteers that are older than
65 years of age. Apitherapy, homeopathy, cupping, wet cupping, maggot therapy,
mesotherapy, prolotherapy, ozon therapy, reflexology were less known by the
older population; as the age increased the correct answers for these therapies decreased.
In addition, correct answer ratio increased with the educational level, in
acupuncture, apitherapy, phytotherapy, hypnosis, chariopractic, cupping, wet
cupping, mesotherapy, ozone therapy and reflexology.

Conclusions: The traditional and
complementary therapies need to be explained to the public. Women are more
intersted in some therapies than men. Public knowledge about the definition of
most traditional and complementary therapies increases with educational level.
People with different demographic properties have different levels of awareness
regarding traditional and complementary therapies. For example while elder
people require more basic training about these methods in general, young and
highly educated women who already have some awareness about these methods can
go through more elaborate training programs which are designed to guide them to
benefit more from these therapies. 

Keywords

health literacy, acupuncture, cupping therapy, complementary health approaches, osteopathy

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