Bishop Felicity L, Yardley Lucy, Lewith George T
Complementary Research Unit, Primary Medical Care, University of Southampton, Aldermoor Health Centre, Aldermoor Close, Southampton, Hampshire, SO16 5ST, UK.
Am J Public Health. 2008 Sep;98(9):1700-5. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.110072. Epub 2008 Jan 2.
We analyzed how patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and examined how patients' perspectives relate to existing, expert-led taxonomies.
We conducted semistructured interviews with 46 people who used CAM in southern England, then performed a qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews.
CAM appeared to be used in 4 different ways: as treats, and as alternative, complementary, or conventional treatments. Treats were portrayed as personal luxuries, not directed at an identified health need. Systematic differences in the context, anticipated benefits, and implications for financial justification were revealed when nonmedical therapies were viewed and used as alternative, complementary, or conventional treatments. Specific CAM practices were viewed and used in different ways by different participants.
Some participants used CAM practices as a personal luxury, not as a health care technology. This is incongruent with existing expert-led taxonomies. Physicians and researchers need to be aware that patients' views of what constitutes CAM can differ radically from their own. They should choose their terminology carefully to initiate meaningful dialogue with their patients and research participants.
我们分析了患者如何使用补充和替代医学（CAM），并研究了患者的观点与现有的、由专家主导的分类法之间的关系。
我们对英格兰南部46名使用CAM的人进行了半结构化访谈，然后对访谈进行了定性主题分析。
CAM的使用方式似乎有4种：作为消遣，以及作为替代、补充或传统治疗。消遣被描述为个人享受，并非针对特定的健康需求。当非医学疗法被视为并用作替代、补充或传统治疗时，在背景、预期益处以及财务合理性方面存在系统性差异。不同参与者对特定的CAM疗法有不同的看法和使用方式。
一些参与者将CAM疗法用作个人享受，而非医疗技术。这与现有的由专家主导的分类法不一致。医生和研究人员需要意识到，患者对CAM的构成的看法可能与他们自己的看法截然不同。他们应谨慎选择术语，以便与患者和研究参与者展开有意义的对话。
