title: Determining the attitudes and use of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine among undergraduates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To (1) determine the attitudes, perceptions, and use of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine among undergraduate students; (2) assess whether these students would benefit from more academic exposure to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and promotion of integrative medicine (IM); and (3) gauge the need and desire of undergraduates, particularly pre-health learners, to take courses about CAM/IM.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional electronic survey study was conducted on the campus of the University of California (UC) Irvine. Selection criteria included being at least 18 years of age and a current undergraduate at UC Irvine. All survey responses were collected between November 20, 2010, and June 1, 2011. The data were analyzed by using Stata software, version 11-SE (Stata Corp., College Station, TX).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Completed surveys were received from 2839 participants (mean age of respondents, 20.2 years). Thirty-five percent had used CAM within the past 12 months, and 92.8% believed CAM to be at least somewhat effective; however, only 31% had prior education on CAM. After adjustment for variables, familiarity and belief in effectiveness were both highly linked to the use of CAM, with ascending odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence interval [CI]) of 3.9 (3.1-4.9), 8.1 (5.7-11.5), 13.4 (6.0-30.2), 2.1 (1.3-3.4), 4.9 (3.0-7.8), and 12.7 (6.9-23.4) among increasing categories (all p<0.01). Sex (OR, 1.26 [95% CI, 1.01-1.56]; p<0.05), Asian ethnicity (1.46 [1.14-1.88]; p<0.01), and prior education (1.26 [1.01-1.57]; p<0.05) were also significantly correlated to the use of CAM after adjustment. Most respondents indicated that they were likely to take a CAM college course if it fulfilled a graduation requirement (63.6%) or was offered within their major (56.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, this large-scale study supports the ideas that education plays a pivotal factor in the decision to use CAM and that there is a large demand for additional CAM knowledge among college students.
authors.affiliation: 1 Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine, affiliated with School of Medicine, University of California , Irvine, Costa Mesa, CA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ngoc-Tram
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Broukhim
authors.forename: Douglas H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Tonya L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: Wadie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Najm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult