Awareness, attitudes and experiences in complementary and alternative medicine of 5th year medical students, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

Background : At the present time, the role of complementary and alternative medicine is increasingly evident, both in foreign countries and in Thailand. in Thailand, there is not yet any data to prepare the study course for alternative medicine so the study about awareness, attitudes and experiences in alternative medicine of medical students will be useful.

Objective : To quantitatively determine the awareness, attitudes and experiences in alternative medicine of 5^th year medical students, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University.

Design : Cross sectional descriptive study.

Setting : Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Chulalongkorn University.

Methods : Fifth-year medical students were surveyed about their awareness, attitudes and experiences in alternative medicine by a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 3 parts: (1) personal data and experiences of alternative medicine; (2) awareness about alternative medicine; and, (3) attitudes of alternative medicine. All data were analyzed and presented in frequency and percentage by SPSS version 11.0.

Results : From a total of 139 questionnaire forms sent out, 124 responses came back, (response rate 89.2%). in the part of experiences, 25.8% of the 5th year medical students had experiences of alternative medicine, namely: massage therapy (14.5°%), yoga (9.7%), herb use (9.7%), Thai traditional medicine (7.3%), acupuncture (5.6%), meditation therapy (4.0%), aromatherapy (4.0%), acupressure (3.2%), music therapy (0.8%), art therapy (0.8%), and Ayurveda (0.8%). None of them had experienced homeopathy and Qi-gong (0%). The first five types of alternative medicine that the medical students having heard the name and knew what it was were, namely: yoga (91.9%), acupuncture (87.95%), massage therapy (66.9%), herb use(66.1%), Thai traditional medicine (63.7%). Seventy-nine point eight percent (79.8%) of the medical students agreed that alternative medicine could be used to treat patients in conjunction with modern medicine, and 79.0% agreed that conventional doctors should be able to provide appropriate advice on alternative medicine to their patient. Eighty-two point three percent (82.3%) agreed to the idea that the Faculty should include alternative medicine as an elective subject

Conclusion : Most of the 5^th year medical students used to having heard the name of each type of alternative medicine and knew what it was. Only 1/4 had experienced in alternative medicine. Most of them had positive attitudes to alternative medicine especially the ideas that alternative medicine could be used to treat patients conjunction with modern medicine and agreed to include alternative medicine as an elective subject in medical curriculum such as acupuncture, herb use, acupressure, Thai traditional medicine and yoga. As for public health, alternative medicine should also be a part of healthcare services in Thailand.