Complementary and alternative therapies from the Turkish Physician's perspective: An embedded mixed-method study

Purpose: This study aimed to elucidate the attitudes of Turkish physicians toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Methods: This mixed-method study was carried out on Turkish physicians (n = 103). Eight participants were personally interviewed in detail. The attitudes of the physicians were obtained after the quantitative phase and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Data were collected using the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Health Questionnaire (HCAMQ), and socio-demographics. Results: The mean HCAMQ scores were 34.98 +/- 4.65. Prevailing themes were: (1) the placement of CAM in medicine, (2) unclear aspects of CAM, (3) underlying factors of attitudes toward CAM, (4) acceptance of CAM subject to conditions, (5) reactions to CAM usage, and (6) popular CAM approaches and their positive effects. Conclusion: The majority of physicians were skeptical about CAM but reported being non-judgmental toward patients that had used CAM. However, they also highlighted that considering evidence-based outcomes.