Özet:

Introduction: In our country, there hasn’t been any study on the “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” (CAM) practices among the children of low-income families yet. In our study our aim was to investigate the CAM practices among low-income families.Material-Method: The questionnaire form was filled by the parents, who admitted to our Pediatric Outpatient Clinic. Demographic data of the families and the CAM used by them were questioned. Evidences: The parents of the children (age between 0-15years) who admitted to our outpatient clinic, filled up the questionnaire form. The income level of all the families was below the poverty line. 87 % (n=345 ) of the families stated that they used CAM methods. The median starting age for CAM using was determined as 0.0 year and 52 % of families started in the newborn period.The most frequent reason for CAM practices was constipation (n=282). The most frequently used CAM practices on children were giving them herbal tea (n=156) and olive/almond oil (n=140). A statistically significant correlation between the educational level of mother and father and their CAM usage was observed (p=0.000). Discussion: Our aim was to remark the CAM practices which are being used beginning from the neonatal period and which are widely used without the ‘health providers’ advice, are applied by our group of parents who have low-income status and live in the capital

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