USE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE BY PATIENTS ATTENDING A GASTROENTEROLOGY CLINIC

  • 15 January 1990
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 142  (2) , 121-125
Abstract
We carried out a study to determine the proportion of patients attending a university-based gastroenterology outpatient clinic who sought alternative medical care for the same health problem that had prompted them to see a gastroenterologist. After the patients completed a self-administered questionnaire, the gastroenterologist gave a diagnosis and assigned a functional rating. Of the 395 patients 287 (73%) had not used alternative medicine, and 36 (9%) had sought alternative medical care for the problem that had prompted them to see a gastroenterologist. There were no significant differences between alternative medicine users and nonusers in sociodemographic characteristics, use of health care services or general health status. Patients with a funtional disease were more likely to seek alternative medical care than those with organic disease (33% v. 7%) (p < 0.0001). Fewer alternative medicine users (54%) than nonusers (85%) were satisfied with conventional medicine (p < 0.001), and more alternative medicine users (49%) than nonusers (13%) were very sceptical of conventional medicine (p < 0.0001).