Mapping traditional and complementary medicine in Turkey

Introduction: This article shares the findings of a preliminary survey undertaken for the Ministry of Health in Turkey to help develop their policies on the use of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T & CM). The primary aim was to find out how T & CM is used by the patients as a part of their treatment processes and also to find out whether some practices that are not included in the Western description of T & CM are in common use in Turkey and their cultural implications. Methods: This cross sectional, paper based questionnaire survey was carried out in 39 public hospitals and 21 general practice clinics within seven geographical areas of Turkey. Patients in the waiting rooms with an appointment on that particular day were included. Results: 2770 women (47.1%) and 3112 men (52.9%) participated in the survey. The overall T & CM use was 60.5%. Women's frequency of T & CM use was higher than men (P= 0.001). Strong gender component of T & CM use needs further quantitative research taking cultural aspects into consideration. 59.4% of the participants who used T & CM reported that it was recommended to them by others and only 54.3% shared information about their use of T & CM with their physicians. Leech therapy and cupping prevalence was higher in Turkey compared to other countries possibly due to religious and cultural beliefs. Conclusion: The frequency of T & CM use is high which was a reflection of belief based therapeutic approaches in other words, there is a divide between traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine in Turkey, which needs to be separately evaluated.