Herbal medicines: predictors of recommendation by physicians.
BACKGROUND
We hypothesized that as the use of herbal medicines increases in the general population, so do patients' requests to physicians for recommendations. However, why some physicians recommend herbal medicines while others do not is not well understood.


OBJECTIVE
To identify factors, which predict recommendation of herbal medicines by physicians. DESIGN, LOCATION, SUBJECTS: Face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire of 206 physicians working at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia.


RESULTS
About a third (206 of 626) of the physicians in the Centre participated. Only nine of the 215 approached refused to participate. Forty physicians (19%) recommended herbal medicines to patients. Logistic regression modelling identified personal use, general interest, interest in receiving training, race and higher level of medical training as significant predictors of physicians recommending herbal medicines.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians' personal attributes and training influence their likelihood of recommending herbal medicines.
Aziz
Z
Z
Centre for Evidence-Based Pharmacotherapy, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK. zoriah@um.edu.my
D004501:Education, Medical / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000639:trends*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data