Intention to encourage complementary and alternative medicine among general practitioners and medical students

The authors' goal was to identify factors explaining intention to encourage a patient to follow complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment among general practitioners (GPs), fourth-year medical students, and residents in family medicine. They surveyed 500 GPs and 904 medical students via a self-administered mailed questionnaire that they based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Respondents expressed a neutral level of intention to encourage CAM approach. Variables explaining 75% of variance of intention of all participants were: moral norm, beta=0.34, p<.0001; perceived behavioral control, beta=0.29, p<.0001; attitude, beta=0.22, p<.0001; descriptive norm, beta=0.13, p<.0001; and professional status, (GPs, beta=-0.07, p<.0001; residents, beta=-0.07, p<.0001). Facilitating conditions and developing a better perception of control over perceived obstacles could help enhance health-care practitioners' intentions to use CAM. Also, a clear position on the part of the medical community would help to define a professional norm in line with the moral norm.