Attitudes and prior experience with respect to alternative medicine among dermatological patients: the Freiburg questionnaire on attitudes to naturopathy (FAN).

OBJECTIVES

1. Development and validation of a questionnaire on the attitudes and prior therapies with respect to naturopathy. 2) Clinical application in patients with atopic dermatitis in conventional and unconventional inhospital therapy.

METHODS

A questionnaire for patients with skin diseases was developed, which includes the following areas: 1. prior therapies (conventional, unconventional, and psychotherapeutic procedures), 2. attitudes to the procedures, 3. previous therapists, 4. sources of information about the disease. The questionnaire was validated on 1,288 inpatients and outpatients in three clinics. A comparison study using the questionnaire was performed with 73 inpatients with atopic dermatitis under conventional therapy and 59 inpatients under alternative-medical therapy.

RESULTS

The patients undergoing alternative-medical therapy reported significantly more prior experience in both conventional and unconventional procedures. The unconventional procedures were rated significantly higher by these patients, while the patients under conventional treatment rated several conventional procedures significantly higher. With respect to previous therapists, patients under unconventional treatment had been treated significantly more frequently by physicians oriented toward naturopathy and nonmedical practitioners. Prior information concerning the disease had been obtained significantly more frequently by the patients under alternative-medical treatment.

DISCUSSION

Patients with atopic dermatitis under conventional or alternative medical treatment differ widely from one another with respect to previous therapies and prior experience and attitudes to conventional and unconventional procedures. These selection effects must be taken into consideration when comparing various therapeutic approaches, e. g. in multicenter studies.