Abstract:

Aims: Although many studies conducted have revealed the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), as much as the modern medicine, CAMs today are generally being used in the light of conventional habits rather than the scientific background. The aim of the present study is to evaluate medical students’ attitudes towards, and use of traditional treatment that will be able to recommend or discredit this method of treatment to people in the future. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study has been conducted with 268 male and 369 female students. Questionnaire about students’ attitude towards and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been completed and analyzed by statistical software. Results: The frequency of the CAM usage among students who participated in the study was found as 37%. The most well-known methods are religious practices/prayer (16.0%), massage (11.8%), cupping (5.0%) and hydrotherapy/spa practices. The most commonly used CAM methods were found as religious practices/prayer (32.3%), massage (27.5%), use of vitamin (24%) and herbal remedies (21.4%). The most common reason for using these methods was determined as “relaxation” (35%).The acupressure (86.8%), chiropractic (86.5%) and Ayurveda (79.9%) are the CAM methods that students have never had information before. Conclusion: Our results suggested that the students are interested in CAM methods but it has been determined that although they use the method, they don’t have knowledge about it.  It has been thought that eliminating students’ lack of knowledge is an important issue for proper use of the CAM methods and informing the society properly. 

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