Traditional, complementary/alternative medicine (CAM/T) is popular in South-Asian countries, where accessibility and cost of conventional medicine is an issue. This survey explores CAM/T use in a sub-urban population in Pakistan. A validated questionnaire was used to survey 355 participants, selected by systematic sampling. Among them 63% believed in the potential of CAM/T to heal while 58% preferred CAM/T over conventional medicine, mainly because of cost-effectiveness. Around 82% had either been to a CAM/T healthcare provider or used selfhelp practices in the last one year for health and 85% said that they do not inform their physicians about CAM/T use. Females were more likely to consult a CAM/T provider for symptoms like back pain, leucorrhoea and body aches. This popularity of CAM/T in our region promotes to gain an insight into the use of CAM/T in communities for integration of CAM/T with conventional healthcare leading to cost-effective and efficient primary healthcare.


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    Title :

    Traditional and complementary/alternative medicine use in a South-Asian population


    Contributors:
    F Amin (author) / N Islam (author) / AH Gilani (author)

    Publication date :

    2015-09-30


    Remarks:

    Asian Pacific Journal of Health Sciences; Vol. 2 No. 3 (2015): Vol 2 | Issue 3 | July - September 2015; 36-42 ; 2349-0659 ; 2350-0964


    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    DDC:    629



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