Trust in Health Care and Use of Alternative Medicine
Author Information
Author(s): van den Brink-Muinen A, Rijken PM
Primary Institution: NIVEL (Netherlands institute for health services research)
Hypothesis
Does trust in health care influence the use of complementary and alternative medicine by chronically ill people?
Conclusion
Trust in future health care is a significant predictor of CAM use, suggesting that lower trust may lead to increased use of alternative medicine.
Supporting Evidence
- Chronically ill people use CAM two to five times more often than non-chronically ill people.
- Patients with lower trust in future health care are more inclined to use CAM.
- About one third of the chronically ill people reported ever having used CAM.
Takeaway
If people with chronic illnesses don't trust their doctors, they might try other types of medicine that aren't traditional, like acupuncture or homeopathy.
Methodology
The study used a questionnaire to measure trust in health care and CAM use among 1,625 chronically ill patients, with statistical analyses including t tests, Chi-square, and logistic regression.
Potential Biases
Potential biases may arise from self-reported data and the specific population sampled.
Limitations
The study may not account for all socio-demographic and disease characteristics influencing trust and CAM use.
Participant Demographics
Participants were chronically ill individuals aged 25 and older, with a mean age of 60 years, comprising 42.3% male and 57.7% female.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.75 for trust in future health care
Confidence Interval
95% CI for trust in future health care: 0.61 – 0.87
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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