A study to examine the attitudes, knowledge, and utilization of CAM by primary care professional in West Texas

SummaryObjectiveThis study examined the attitudes, knowledge, and utilization of CAM among primary care providers at two campuses of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC).Design and settingA cross-sectional study design and a convenient sampling method were used. This study employed the questionnaire adapted from the Wahner-Roedler's study to survey participants in TTUHSC. Primary survey collection was conducted at the two campuses where all Family Medicine healthcare professionals were recruited.Main outcome measuresWe measured participants’ knowledge of, their familiarity and experience with, their attitudes towards and utilization of CAM.ResultsOf the 69 respondents, more than half (56.5%) were female and younger than 36 years. Overall, our study revealed a positive attitude towards CAM. More than 60% of the providers would like to refer a patient to a CAM practitioner and about 75% of them believed that incorporation of CAM therapies into the practice would have a positive impact. Providers were most familiar with and felt most comfortable counseling their patients about massage therapy and St. John's Wort among all CAM modalities. About 70% of the participants believed that the institution should offer proven CAM therapies to patients.ConclusionsThis study provides some preliminary findings that may lead to further exploration of healthcare professional's attitudes towards CAM.