Attitude of Conventional and CAM Physicians Toward CAM in India

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare the attitude toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) of primary care physicians trained in conventional medicine with CAM physicians whose training was for a comparable duration. The CAM physicians included practitioners of Ayurveda, homeopathy, and naturopathy. Participants: Two hundred and ninety five (295) physicians with aged 20-60 (group mean +/- standard deviation, 48.2 +/- 12.3 years, 87 females) participated. Eighty-six (86) of them were trained in Ayurveda, 90 in homeopathy, 82 in conventional medicine, and 37 in naturopathy. They were attending a 4-day residential program on Indian culture. All of them gave their signed consent to take part in the study, and the institution's ethics committee approved the study. Study design: The study was a cross-sectional survey. Since the participants had self-selected to join for the program on Indian culture, the sampling could be considered as convenience sampling. Results: The number of conventionally trained and CAM physicians were similar in number and in their reasons for selecting CAM treatments. Conclusions: Conventionally trained and CAM physicians were comparably likely to prescribe CAM treatments for their patients. Their reasons for prescribing CAM treatments appeared to be (1) the idea that CAM treatments deal with the cause, and (2) a belief in the treatments. A limiting factor of the survey is that it did not determine whether the belief was based on evidence or on faith alone.