Results of a national survey on knowledge and use of complementary and alternative medicine by paediatricians.

INTRODUCTION: The use of certain Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) in children has been documented in Spain. The main aim of this study is to estimate the knowledge, recommendations, and use of CAM by Spanish paediatricians. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A national study was conducted from June to July 2020 using an online questionnaire. Two e-mails were sent to paediatricians who were members of the Spanish Association of Paediatrics (AEP). RESULTS: Out of 1414 responses received, acupuncture was considered as a science by 31.8%. Homeopathy was recommended to parents by 28.1%. CAM was used by 21.3% of physicians, at least once, to improve their own health. Only 3.8% had ever replaced a conventional treatment with CAM. The following variables were associated with a greater disposition to prescribe homeopathy: female, age over 45 years old, paediatricians working in Primary Care, and paediatricians working in private healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: This AEP Committee on Medicines questionnaire provides new data that should be considered alarming and should ask for a serious thinking on the use of CAM in Spain. Some paediatricians are recommending parents to give treatments not supported by scientific evidence to their children. This practice could be potentially harmful, especially when conventional treatment is being replaced.

[Results of a national survey on knowledge and use of complementary and alternative medicine by paediatricians]. / Resultados de una encuesta nacional sobre conocimiento y uso de pseudociencias por parte de los pediatras.

INTRODUCTION: The use of certain Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) in children has been documented in Spain. The main aim of this study is to estimate the knowledge, recommendations, and use of CAM by Spanish paediatricians. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A national study was conducted from June to July 2020 using an online questionnaire. Two e-mails were sent to paediatricians who were members of the Spanish Association of Paediatrics (AEP). RESULTS: Out of 1,414 responses received, acupuncture was considered as a science by 31.8%. Homeopathy was recommended to parents by 28.1%. CAM was used by 21.3% of physicians, at least once, to improve their own health. Only 3.8% had ever replaced a conventional treatment with CAM. The following variables were associated with a greater disposition to prescribe homeopathy: female, age over 45 years old, paediatricians working in Primary Care, and paediatricians working in private healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: This AEP Committee on Medicines questionnaire provides new data that should be considered alarming and should ask for a serious thinking on the use of CAM in Spain. Some paediatricians are recommending parents to give treatments not supported by scientific evidence to their children. This practice could be potentially harmful, especially when conventional treatment is being replaced.

[Position Statement From The Spanish Association Of Paediatrics Medicines Committee Concerning The Use Of Alternative Medicine And Pseudo-Science In Children]. / Posicionamiento del Comité de Medicamentos de la Asociación Española de Pediatría en relación con el uso de medicinas alternativas y seudociencias en niños.

Currently, there are some therapies that are being practiced without adjusting to the available scientific evidence. The terminology is confusing, encompassing terms such as "alternative medicine", "natural medicine", "complementary medicine", "pseudoscience" or "pseudo-therapies". The Medicines Committee of the Spanish Association of Paediatrics considers that no health professional should recommend treatments not supported by scientific evidence. Also, diagnostic and therapeutic actions should be always based on protocols and clinical practice guidelines. Health authorities and judicial system should regulate and regularize the use of alternative medicines in children, warning parents and prescribers of possible sanctions in those cases in which the clinical evolution is not satisfactory, as well responsibilities are required for the practice of traditional medicine, for health professionals who act without complying with the "lex artis ad hoc", and for the parents who do not fulfill their duties of custody and protection. In addition, it considers that, as already has happened, Professional Associations should also sanction, or at least reprobate or correct, those health professionals who, under a scientific recognition obtained by a university degree, promote the use of therapies far from the scientific method and current evidence, especially in those cases in which it is recommended to replace conventional treatment with pseudo-therapy, and in any case if said substitution leads to a clinical worsening that could have been avoided.