Knowledge, perceptions and attitudes toward complementary and alternative therapies among Kuwaiti medical and...

To determine the knowledge, perceived effectiveness and harmfulness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities, general attitude and the need for education in the use of CAM therapies among medical and pharmacy students.

A descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed using a pre-tested questionnaire on a randomly selected sample of 250 students in Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy, Kuwait University. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used in data analysis.

The response rate was 88.4%. CAM usage was reported by 122 (55.2%) of students, and mostly associated with females (OR 4.4, 95% CI 1.7-11.3). Herbal products were the most commonly used (83, 37.6%). Knowledge about 11 CAM modalities was generally poor, even among the respondents who claimed to know them most. The knowledge about herbal products was significantly better among 58 pharmacy students (49.2%) than 32 medical students (31.4%) (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.6). Massage, herbal products and prayer/Qur'an reciting were perceived as being the most effective, while cauterization as the most harmful. Attitude toward CAM was positive, with 176 (79.7%) believing that CAM includes ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit. Lack of trained professionals and lack of scientific evidence were the most perceived barriers for CAM implementation. 198 (89.6%) admitted the importance of knowledge about CAM for them as future healthcare practitioners.

The students acknowledged the need to be well educated about CAM to better advise their patients in the future.