Use and acceptance of complementary and alternative medicine among the general population and medical personnel: a systematic review.

TLDR

Interest in complementary and alternative medicine has risen over the past decade, with the public largely supportive while many medical professionals remain skeptical about its clinical effectiveness. This systematic review aimed to assess the prevalence and acceptance of CAM among the general public and medical personnel. The authors performed a systematic literature search across PubMed, PSYNDEX, PsycLit, CAMbase, and CAMRESEARCH, identifying 16 studies that met inclusion criteria. The review found CAM use ranged from 5 % to 74.8 %, with higher rates of homeopathy and acupuncture in German‑speaking countries, most common therapies being chiropractic, herbal medicine, massage, and homeopathy, and usage predicted by female gender, middle age, and higher education; common indications were back pain, depression, insomnia, headaches, and gastrointestinal disorders, while medical students were the most critical and least likely to consult CAM practitioners, and overall usage rose from 1990 to 2006 with geographic variations.

Abstract

The interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased during the past decade and the attitude of the general public is mainly positive, but the debate about the clinical effectiveness of these therapies remains controversial among many medical professionals.We conducted a systematic search of the existing literature utilizing different databases, including PubMed/Medline, PSYNDEX, and PsycLit, to research the use and acceptance of CAM among the general population and medical personnel. A special focus on CAM-referring literature was set by limiting the PubMed search to "Complementary Medicine" and adding two other search engines: CAMbase (www.cambase.de) and CAMRESEARCH (www.camresearch.net). These engines were used to reveal publications that at the time of the review were not indexed in PubMed.A total of 16 papers met the scope criteria. Prevalence rates of CAM in each of the included studies were between 5% and 74.8%. We found a higher utilization of homeopathy and acupuncture in German-speaking countries. Excluding any form of spiritual prayer, the data demonstrate that chiropractic manipulation, herbal medicine, massage, and homeopathy were the therapies most commonly used by the general population. We identified sex, age, and education as predictors of CAM utilization: More users were women, middle aged, and more educated. The ailments most often associated with CAM utilization included back pain or pathology, depression, insomnia, severe headache or migraine, and stomach or intestinal illnesses. Medical students were the most critical toward CAM. Compared to students of other professions (ie, nursing students: 44.7%, pharmacy students: 18.2%), medical students reported the least consultation with a CAM practitioner (10%).The present data demonstrate an increase of CAM usage from 1990 through 2006 in all countries investigated. We found geographical differences, as well as differences between the general population and medical personnel.