Patients’ Perception of Complementary Therapies

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Abstract
It is often said that complementary medicine is rapidly gaining popularity. The aim of this overview was to a) assess its prevalence and b) its effectiveness as perceived by those who use it. A literature search was performed to identify all reports addressing both issues. Fourteen surveys were retrieved. They indicate a large variability in terms of prevalence, which may differ according to the sample population, the question asked, the country of origin and possibly other factors. Patients’ perceived effectiveness is generally encouraging: the majority of those using complementary forms of treatment experience some benefits from it. This, however, does not tell us whether such remedies are specifically effective (superior to placebo or sham intervention) or work through non-specific placebo effects. The only way to find out is to conduct more randomised controlled trials.

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