[Complementary and alternative medicine in primary care in Switzerland].
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the current supply of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Swiss primary care. Information was collected on physicians' qualifications in CAM, frequency of patients' demand for CAM, physicians' supply and temporal resources for CAM as well as physicians' referrals to CAM.


METHODS
750 (500 German-speaking and 250 French-speaking) randomly selected Swiss female and male primary care physicians were asked to complete a questionnaire (response rate 50.4%). Sociodemographic data on professional training, place of residence, and sex were used to calculate a weighting factor to correct the responders' data in the analysis accordingly.


RESULTS
14.2% of the physicians were qualified in at least one CAM discipline. Around 30% (95% confidence interval 25.4-34.6%) of the physicians were asked for CAM by their patients more than once a week. Homeopathy and phytotherapy were the most frequently offered therapies, followed by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)/acupuncture. 62.5% (57.6-67.4%) of the physicians refer their patients to CAM. Most patients were referred to TCM/acupuncture. Of the 37.2% (32.6-42.4%) of the physicians who do not refer their patients to CAM, around 40% (35.1-44.9%) offer it themselves.


CONCLUSIONS
About three quarters of the physicians offer CAM themselves or refer their patients to CAM treatments. CAM is very important in primary medical care in Switzerland. Clear regulations for CAM are required in order to ensure a high quality in care.
Déglon-Fischer
Agnès
A
Kollegiale Instanz fur Komplementarmedizin KIKOM, Universitat Bern, Imhoof-Pavillon, Inselspital, Schweiz. agnes.deglon@kikom.unibe.ch
Barth
Jürgen
J
Ausfeld-Hafter
Brigitte
B
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002568:Certification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006705:Homeopathy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013557:Switzerland