Prevalence and attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies among Public Health students

Aim: To determine the prevalence of use, identify characteristics associated with use and assess attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) among graduate level public health students.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of graduate public health students at the University of Minnesota was conducted using the traditional paper and pencil method. Information on two CAM therapies, herbal supplements (HS) and chiropractic care (CC) was collected through questions about self use, use by family and friends and its influence, organic product use, belief in effectiveness of CAM therapies, and likeliness to use CAM therapy either as primary or adjunct therapy for selected health conditions.

Results: Ever self-use of CAM therapies was higher than among the general population (58% vs. 34%) with more students using HS (80%, n=20) than CC (56%, n=14). Significant relation between CAM self-use and use by friends and family (p=0.004), personal openness to trying newer methods of therapies (p=0.012) and use of organic products (for HS only, p=0.042) were identified. Students were more likely to use HS than CC as adjunct therapy for health issues (p=0.047) and as primary therapy for common cold (p=0.033) and allergy (p=0.042) than other conditions.

Conclusion: Prevalence of CAM use among public health students is high with students exhibiting a slight preference for using HS over CC. Further research to study the attitudes of future public health professionals and its influence on delivery of public health, in particular services linked to clinical care is required.