General perception and self-practice of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among undergraduate pharmacy students of Bangladesh

Abstract

BackgroundComplementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a combination of herbal medicine, traditional therapies, and mind-body intervention. This descriptive study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, perception and self-use of CAM among Bangladeshi undergraduate pharmacy students. The study also evaluated their opinions about its integration into the pharmacy course curriculum.MethodsIt was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted on 250 pharmacy students of five reputed public universities of Bangladesh.ResultsThis study revealed that majority of the pharmacy students were using or had previously used at least one type of CAM. Among the students, 59% had used homeopathy followed by Ayurveda (30%), meditation (29%), massage (13%), Unani (9%), yoga (6%) and acupuncture (2%). Students’ attitudes towards CAM were influenced by family and friends, books and journals, the internet and to a lesser degree by health practitioners. A significant (p < 0.05) number of students had knowledge about CAM. A majority of the students (90%) had positive, while 10% had negative attitudes towards CAM. Lack of knowledge and trained professionals were found to be the major interruptions to CAM use. 84.45% acknowledged the importance of knowledge about CAM for them as future healthcare practitioners. Furthermore, the majority of the students also believed that ideas and methods of CAM would be beneficial for conventional medicine.ConclusionsFrom the findings of the study, it can be recommended that an approach should be taken to educate the students about the fundamentals of CAM use so that it may fulfill the professional needs of our future pharmacists.

A Survey on Perceptions of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Undergraduates in China

“…To date, this is the largest comprehensive study targeting at the students' attitude toward CAM in China. Most of our study population had a positive attitude toward CAM, which is similar to the results described in other counties [4,[20][21][22][23][24]. In our study, the CHBQ overall mean score was 48.87 ± 8.594, which was higher than that in other countries [1,15,25].…”

“…About 72.3% of the students who had never attended CAM courses wanted to learn CAM (p < 0.05), and 55.5% were willing to recommend CAM to others. e more positive attitude they had, the more likely they would recommend CAM [21].…”

A cross-sectional assessment of knowledge, attitudes and self-perceived effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine among pharmacy and non-pharmacy university students

“…Likewise, several literature reports also suggested higher prevalence of CAM product self-use (70%) among medical and pharmacy students [18–20]. It is also well documented that health management practices and choices, especially among pharmacy/medical students, are contrived during university times, which they continue in their professional lives ahead [21, 22]. On the other hand, it is equally important to explore CAM usage among non-medical students, since they are more vulnerable to inappropriate and incongruous use of CAM [23].…”

Representações sociais de doença, usos e significados atribuídos às Práticas Integrativas e Complementares por universitários

“…Assim, se uma dor não leva a uma incapacidade funcional, não precisa ser tratada formalmente pelo saber médico instituído, sendo utilizadas outras alternativas de cura. Ademais, na pesquisa de Saha et al 27 , os objetivos do uso de medicinas alternativas por estudantes de farmácia, em Bangladesh, estiveram relacionados, em sua maioria, ao tratamento de agravos à saúde menos complexos. Do mesmo modo, Jamshed et al 40 encontraram majoritariamente, entre estudantes de farmácia da Malásia, a ideia de que essas terapias podem ser utilizadas para 'doenças menores'.…”

“…Enquanto isso, acadêmicos de saúde têm reconhecido nas PIC um caminho alternativo e eficaz para a promoção da saúde, o tratamento e a prevenção de doenças. Prova disso é a grande aprovação por parte de discentes da inserção da abordagem sobre as PIC nos seus respectivos cursos 19,21,[24][25][26][27] , corroborando os estudos que apontam a necessidade imediata da oferta de componentes curriculares que comportem essa temática 17,19,20,22 . Além disso, a PNPIC ressalta a necessidade de inserção dessas práticas nos cursos universitários, e a educação superior em saúde deve tornar as pessoas aptas a manejá-las.…”