A study to examine the attitudes, knowledge, and utilization of CAM by primary care professional in West Texas.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the attitudes, knowledge, and utilization of CAM among primary care providers at two campuses of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study design and a convenient sampling method were used. This study employed the questionnaire adapted from the Wahner-Roedler's study to survey participants in TTUHSC. Primary survey collection was conducted at the two campuses where all Family Medicine healthcare professionals were recruited. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured participants' knowledge of, their familiarity and experience with, their attitudes towards and utilization of CAM. RESULTS: Of the 69 respondents, more than half (56.5%) were female and younger than 36 years. Overall, our study revealed a positive attitude towards CAM. More than 60% of the providers would like to refer a patient to a CAM practitioner and about 75% of them believed that incorporation of CAM therapies into the practice would have a positive impact. Providers were most familiar with and felt most comfortable counseling their patients about massage therapy and St. John's Wort among all CAM modalities. About 70% of the participants believed that the institution should offer proven CAM therapies to patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some preliminary findings that may lead to further exploration of healthcare professional's attitudes towards CAM.