Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Iranian Medical Students Toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Survey.
Salman Vojdani, Seyede Maryam Najibi, Binazir Niknam, Babak Daneshfard, Mohammad Salehi-Marzijarani, Ramin Nasimi Doost Azgomi, Mohammad Hashem Hashempur
Author Information
Salman Vojdani: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine Fasa University of Medical Sciences Fasa Iran.
Seyede Maryam Najibi: Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran. ORCID
Binazir Niknam: Student Research Committee Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
Babak Daneshfard: Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD) Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran. ORCID
Mohammad Salehi-Marzijarani: Cancer Epidemiology Research Center AJA University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran.
Ramin Nasimi Doost Azgomi: Traditional Medicine and Hydrotherapy Research Center Ardabil University of Medical Sciences Ardabil Iran.
Mohammad Hashem Hashempur: Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran. ORCID
Background and Aims: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) encompasses a wide variety of health practices and products that are generally not included in conventional medicine. This study evaluates knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among medical students toward CAM in Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we developed and used a questionnaire to evaluate the KAP of medical students regarding CAM. The sampling method was convenience sampling. Two hundred and twenty medical students who were in their first to three (junior) and the last 2 years of education (senior) participated in this study. The data was collected from January to May 2017. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and independent -test. Statistical significance was set at -values less than 0.05. Results: Of 220 medical students, 125 respondents were CAM users (56.81%). The score of attitude about CAM was 60.13��������10.48 in junior students and 60.81��������7.32 among senior students. The score of knowledge about CAM was significantly (���=���0.02) higher in senior students (9.05��������4.12) than in juniors (7.74��������5.23). Traditional Persian medicine (TPM) was found to be the most commonly practiced CAM by both groups of students and their families. Leeching in students and chiropractic in their families had the lowest CAM use rates. Conclusion: Although CAM knowledge was relatively low in medical students, they have a positive attitude toward it. TPM was the most common practice among CAM approaches. It is necessary to incorporate CAM modalities especially TPM education into the curriculum of medical students and other healthcare disciplines to enhance students' knowledge and attitude toward CAM and its role in healthcare.
