Attitudes, knowledge and use of complementary and alternative medicine among perioperative healthcare professionals

Introduction: Perioperative healthcare professionals' attitudes towards non- conventional treatments have not been explored in Hungary yet. Aim: Our goal was to survey healthcare professionals' attitude and knowledge towards naturopathy in six clinics of the Semmelweis University that provide perioperative care. Method: An anonymous, paper-based questionnaire was used. With an 82% response rate, the data was gained from 119 questionnaires and was processed using statistical analysis and chi-squared test. Results: Only 25.2% of those surveyed considered themselves to be well- informed in this field. 68.1% of the participants had an interest in naturopathy and 60.5% would have liked to learn about naturopathy. 70.6% would be willing to use non-conventional treatments in their daily work, predominantly those who have used these methods in the case of their own illness, p = 0.0027. The most popular treatment methods included homeopathy, alternative massage and movement therapy, acupuncture and manual therapy. Conclusion: As anticipated based on international literature in this field, those Hungarian healthcare professionals who took part in our survey showed openness and interest towards naturopathy.