General practitioners' beliefs about the clinical utility of complementary and alternative medicine. Issue 3 (3rd June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jarvis, Aron; Perry, Rachel; Smith, Debbie; Terry, Rohini; Peters, Sarah
• Is Part Of: Primary health care research & development. Volume 16:Issue 3(2015)
• Page Start: 246
• Page End: 253
• Publication Date: 2014-06-03
• Subjects: Family medicine -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Primary care (Medicine) -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 362.1094105
• DOI: 10.1017/S146342361400022X
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1463-4236

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="abs1" sec-type="general"> <title>Aim</title> <p>To investigate GPs' beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and its role in clinical practice.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs2" sec-type="general"> <title>Background</title> <p>Despite the prevalence of CAM in the United Kingdom, little is known about GPs beliefs regarding these alternative approaches to patient management and how they view it in relation to their clinical conduct and practice.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs3" sec-type="general"> <title>Method</title> <p>A qualitative study conducted on 19 GPs recruited from the North West of England. Semi-structured telephone interviews were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs4" sec-type="results"> <title>Results</title> <p>Three themes emerged from the data: limited evidence base, patient demand and concerns over regulation.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs5" sec-type="conclusion"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Despite recognising the limited evidence base of CAM, GPs continue to see a role for it within clinical practice. This is not necessarily led by patient demand that is highly related to affluence. However, GPs raised concerns over the regulation of CAM practitioners and CAM therapies.</p> </sec> </abstract>