Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate Emergency Department (ED) patients' desire to discuss complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM) with their emergency physicians, their willingness
to try CAM for their presenting complaint, and emergency physicians' attitudes, beliefs,
and usage of CAM. Methods: A written questionnaire asking about CAM knowledge, usage,
and interest was administered to a convenience sample of ED patients and put in work
mailboxes of emergency physicians at an academic tertiary care referral center with
an emergency medicine residency program. Results: Of the 75 patients surveyed, 54.7%
stated that they were currently using or had used some form of CAM in the past. Only
24% of patients stated that they would discuss their usage of CAM with their emergency
physician. Eighty-one percent of patients thought it was important for their physicians
to be educated about CAM, and 85% would be willing to incorporate CAM into the treatment
of their presenting complaint. Out of 34 emergency physicians, 28 (82%) completed
their surveys. Forty percent of physicians stated that they are currently using or
had used some form of CAM in the past. Ninety-six percent of physicians surveyed thought
it was important for physicians to be educated about CAM and were willing to discuss
CAM with their patients. Conclusion: The use and public acceptance of CAM in our study
population, for both patients and physicians, was high. Although patients and physicians
need more education about CAM, both made it clear that they desire and are willing
to discuss CAM with each other.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 01, 2008
Accepted:
January 25,
2008
Received in revised form:
January 21,
2008
Received:
October 7,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
