Alternative Medicine Attitudes and Practices of U.S. College Students. Part 2
A short, 16-item written survey developed for use in an earlier study (Lamarine, Fisher, & Sbarbaro, 2003) was adapted for the present study. Alternative medicine was selected as the operational variable, in lieu of CAM, in an attempt to examine therapies that might be selected in place of traditional (allopathic) medicine, rather than as complements to it. For this research a widely cited definition was employed defining alternative medicine as “a heterogeneous set of practices that are offered as an alternative to conventional medicine, for the preservation of health and the diagnosis and treatment of health related problems: its practitioners are often called healers” (Murray & Rubel, 1992, p. 61). The major approaches encompassed by alternative medicine, as described in the literature, were listed. Conventional (allopathic) medicine was defined by the researchers as “medical practices and procedures commonly employed by physicians and other certified health workers.”
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The survey comprised a number of items utilizing a Likert scale (1=low; 5=high). These items examined attitudes and practices related to both alternative and conventional medicine. Other variables examined included the importance of scientifically based evidence, the health of the respondents, whether they had experienced a serious illness within the last five years, and their exercise patterns. In addition to demographic data subjects were asked to list alternative therapies they had used and their frequency of use. Reliability and validity of the instrument were established during the initial pilot study, which preceded the earlier research (Lamarine, Fisher, & Sbarbaro, 2003).
Attitudes and Practices Toward Alternative Medicine
Eighty percent of the students reported that they would always or sometimes advocate for the use of alternative medicine, while 44% had used alternative therapies. The most commonly used alternative therapies were herbs (47%), dietary supplements (22%), and chiropractic (16%). Nearly half (49%) of the users of alternative medicine reported that they were somewhat or very satisfied with these therapies.
A large majority (90%) of the sample reported that scientific evidence was somewhat or very important in their decision to support an alternative therapy. Eighty-five percent stated that only occasionally or never would it be ethical to advocate for the use of untested or unproven therapies, while 91% noted that it was usually or absolutely essential that all new therapies be scientifically tested.
Conventional Medicine
Moderate to high levels of confidence were reported in scientifically tested, conventional medicine by 92% of the sample and 89% were somewhat or very satisfied with conventional medicine.
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Gender Differences
Four statistically significant gender differences using Chi Square analyses were noted. Males were more likely to report that they would advocate for alternative medicine (79% versus 67%; p=.051) while females were significantly more likely than males to use alternative medicine (50% versus 35%, p=.000). However, differences between the sexes disappeared with regard to the need for scientific evidence to support decisions related to using alternative therapies, as both groups supported this issue (mean=89%). Finally, males reported better health status and greater likelihood to participate in aerobic exercise at least twice a week (78% versus 72%, p = .007).