Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Medical Residents towards Traditional and Complementary Medicine: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of medical residents working at a faculty of medicine hospital about Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM). Material-Method: This is a cross-sectional study. The study was conducted with clinical science assistants working at the faculty of medicine between 15 July and 15 December 2021. A survey containing questions to determine the clinical and demographic characteristics of the participants and their knowledge, behavior, and attitudes toward TCM applications was applied to the participants. Results: A total of 261 medical residents participated. The average age was 29.4±2.6 years and 51.7% (n=135) were male. 82% of the participants were studying internal medicine sciences. The average length of time as a physician was found to be 4.4 years, and the average length of time as a physician in the total branch was 2.6 years. Cupping therapy was the most known method with 55.6%. The most frequently used method (19.2%) was phytotherapy; the most frequently recommended (16.5%) was phytotherapy; the most formally trained (4.2%), was cupping therapy; the most desired formal training (41%) was acupuncture; the most frequently declared method (11.9%) as another TCM method was diet. 36.4% of the participants found TCM useful. 82% thought that these methods should only be applied by trained physicians. Conclusion: It was determined that the level of TCM knowledge among assistant physicians was low. Although the majority of participants had a positive attitude towards TCM, they had low rates of application, implementation, and recommendation.