title: Knowledge and practice of complementary medicine amongst public primary care clinic doctors in Kinta district, Perak.
abstract: The knowledge and practice of doctors (n=40) towards complementary medicine (CM) in 16 health clinics in the Kinta District were assessed by questionnaire. Thirty-four (85%) responded. More than half felt that acupuncture (73.50), homeopathy (59%) and herbal medicine (59%) were occasionally harmful. Forty-four percent felt manipulative therapy was frequently harmful. Relaxation technique (79%) and nutritional therapy (44%) were considered most frequently useful. 59% used some form of CM. There were no significant differences found in usage rates by gender, age group and exposure to CM during undergraduate training. Sixty-seven percent had encouraged patients to seek CM. Seventy-three percent perceived an increasing demand for CM. Eighty-eight percent were in favour of a hospital based CM referral center. Only 6% were trained in CM.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Ipoh, Perak.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires