DETERMINING KNOWLEDGE LEVELS, ATTITUDES TOWARD, AND USE OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AMONG INDIVIDUALS APPLYING TO FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and application status of CAM in a family health center. Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 366 participants in Ankara that is Turkey's capital. The data were collected by using the descriptive information form developed by the researchers, the questionnaire containing the questions about CAM applications and the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Scale (HCAMQ). Results: According to the results of the study, 62.8(n=230) of the participants had knowledge about CAM and 53.3% (n = 195) of them applied CAM methods. 88.3% (n=323) of the participants stated that they believed in CAM activity. 47.0% (n = 172) of the participants stated that are close environment (family, friends, neighbors) as CAM information source. 80.6% (n=295) prayer was the most preferred CAM method. There was a significant relationship between CAM use and age, marital status, chronic disease and drug use (p <0.05). The mean total score of the Attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine Scale of the participantswas 30.93 ± 5.58, the mean point of complementary and alternative medicine subscales was 18.06 ± 4.15 and the total health subscale mean score was 9.03 ± 2.93. Conclusion: The consequently of this study revealed that the majority of the participants had knowledge about CAM and believed in the benefit of CAM. In addition, high scale scores of participants without chronic disease and having knowedge of CAM showed that CAM was used as a health protection behavior. As a result of this study, it was determined that both healthy and sick individuals frequently applied CAM methods and had a positive attitude towards CAM.