Journal of Traditional Medical Complementary Therapies

.: ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients' Attitudes Towards Traditional and Complementary Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study
COVID-19 Pandemisinin Hastaların Geleneksel ve Tamamlayıcı Tıbba Yönelik Tutumlarına Etkisi: Kesitsel Bir Çalışma
Bilal KARABAŞa , Ersan GÜRSOYb
aClinic of Family Medicine, Tercan State Hospital, Erzincan, Türkiye
bDepartment of Family Medicine, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan, Türkiye
J Tradit Complem Med. 2024;7(1):8-15
doi: 10.5336/jtracom.2023-98478
Article Language: EN
Full Text
ABSTRACT
 Objective: Our study aims to examine whether patients' perspectives on traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) are affected by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Material and Methods: Our study is cross-sectional descriptive. The population consists of patients aged 18 years and older who applied to the family medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital between January 2022 and June 2022. Healthcare workers were excluded from the study to avoid medical bias. A sociodemographic questionnaire consisting of 18 items and a T&CM Attitude Scale consisting of 27 items prepared by McFadden et al. were administered to the participants. A pilot study was conducted with 38 people. According to the pilot study results, the sample calculation was made, and the study was carried out with 450 people. Results: Post-COVID-19 scores were significantly higher in the T&CM Attitude Scale total score and in the sub-dimensions of ''view of traditional medicine'', ''dissatisfaction with modern medicine'', and ''holistic view of health'' (p<0.001). The increase in the total score on the T&CM Attitude Scale was more evident in those who had used any T&CM method before, in those whose family members had used the T&CM method, and in those who found T&CM methods useful (all p<0.001). There was no significant difference in the total score between those with COVID-19 infection and those without (p=0.215). Conclusion: The view for T&CM was found to increase positively after the COVID-19 pandemic, and this positive outlook was independent of being infected with COVID-19.

Keywords: Traditional medicine; complementary medicine; COVID-19
ÖZET
 Amaç: Çalışmamız, hastaların geleneksel ve tamamlayıcı tıbba (GETAT) bakış açılarının koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 [coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)] pandemisinden etkilenip etkilenmediğini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmamız kesitsel tanımlayıcı tipte bir çalışmadır. Çalışmanın evrenini bir üniversite hastanesinin aile hekimliği polikliniğine Ocak-Haziran 2022 tarihleri arasında başvuran 18 yaş ve üzeri hastalar oluşturmaktadır. Tıbbi yanlılığı önlemek için sağlık çalışanları çalışmaya dâhil edilmemiştir. Katılımcılara McFadden ve ark. tarafından geliştirilen ve 27 maddeden oluşan GETAT Tutum Ölçeği ve araştırmacılar tarafından hazırlanmış 18 maddelik bir sosyodemografik anket uygulanmıştır. Otuz sekiz kişi ile pilot çalışma gerçekleştirilmiş ve pilot çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre örneklem hesabı yapılarak ve 450 kişi ile çalışma tamamlanmıştır. Bulgular: GETAT Tutum Ölçeği toplam puan ve ''geleneksel tıbba bakış'', ''modern tıbba karşı memnuniyetsizlik'' ve ''sağlığa bütüncül bakış'' alt boyutlarında COVID-19 pandemisi sonrası puanlar COVID-19 pandemisi öncesine göre anlamlı derecede daha yüksekti (p<0,001). Daha önce herhangi bir GETAT yöntemi kullanmış olanlarda, ailesinden birisi GETAT yöntemi kullanmış olanlarda ve GETAT yöntemlerini faydalı bulanlarda GETAT Tutum Ölçeği'nden alınan toplam puan artışı daha belirgindi (hepsi p<0,001). COVID-19 enfeksiyonu geçirenlerle geçirmeyenler arasında toplam puan açısından anlamlı fark yoktu (p=0,215). Sonuç: Hastaların GETAT tutumlarının COVID-19 pandemisi sonrasında pozitif olarak arttığı görülmüştür ve bu olumlu artış COVID-19 enfeksiyonu geçirmekten bağımsızdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Geleneksel tıp; tamamlayıcı tıp; COVID-19
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