Table 1 Physician and patient attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
Statement | Agree (%) | Disagree (%) | Neutral/Skipped (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
Clinical care should integrate the best conventional and CAM practices.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 281 (73.8) | 29 (7.6) | 71 (18.6) |
   Patient | 196 (40.8) | 4 (0.8) | 280 (58.3) |
CAM includes areas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 279 (73.2) | 23 (6.0) | 79 (20.7) |
   Patient | 192 (40.0) | 10 (2.1) | 278 (57.9) |
CAM approaches hold promise for treatment of symptoms, conditions and/or diseases.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 226 (59.3) | 39 (10.2) | 116 (30.5) |
   Patient | 169 (35.2) | 12 (2.5) | 299 (62.3) |
While a few CAM approaches may have limited health benefits, they have no true impact on treatment of symptoms, conditions and/or diseases.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 93 (24.4) | 178 (46.7) | 110 (28.9) |
   Patient | 51 (10.6) | 129 (26.9) | 300 (62.5) |
Health professionals should be able to advise their patients about commonly used CAM methods.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 259 (68.0) | 26 (6.8) | 96 (25.2) |
   Patient | 209 (43.5) | 19 (4.0) | 252 (52.5) |
CAM is a threat to public health.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 34 (8.9) | 252 (66.1) | 95 (24.9) |
   Patient | 23 (4.8) | 205 (42.7) | 252 (52.5) |
Knowledge about CAM is important to me as a patient.* | Â | Â | Â |
   Physician | 209 (54.9) | 56 (14.7) | 116 (30.5) |
   Patient | 171 (35.6) | 20 (4.2) | 289 (60.2) |