Al-Faris Eiad A, Al-Rowais Norah, Mohamed Ashry Gad, Al-Rukban Mohammed O, Al-Kurdi Ahmed, Balla Al-Noor Mohammed A, Al-Harby Saleh, Sheikh Aziz
Department of Family & Community Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ann Saudi Med. 2008 Jan-Feb;28(1):4-10. doi: 10.5144/0256-4947.2008.4.
Alternative medicine (AM) encompasses all forms of therapies that fall outside the mainstream of medical practice. Its popularity is on the increase. Because previous surveys were limited and not generalizable, we estimated the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with use of AM in the community.
A multistage cluster cross-sectional household survey was conducted among Saudi residents of the Riyadh region. Data were collected in 2003 by trained interviewers from primary health care centers using a specially designed questionnaire.
Of 1408 individuals participating in the study, 39% were men. The mean (+/-SD) age for the study population was 35.5 (+/-13.9) years. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents had used AM during the last 12 months. The Holy Quran as a therapy was the most frequently used AM (50.3%), followed by honey (40.1%), black seed (39.2%) and myrrh (35.4%). The health belief model was found to be the most important determinant of AM use. Factors independently associated with AM use included perceived failure of medical treatment, the perceived success of AM, a preference for natural materials, and long appointment intervals to see physicians.
There is a high prevalence of AM use in the Riyadh region and the most important determinant of AM use was the perceived failure of medical treatment. The study results call for intensive health education campaigns in the media addressing wrong beliefs regarding AM and modern medicine. The popularity of AM in this community should alert decision makers to look at the difficult accessibility to the health system.
替代医学（AM）涵盖了所有不属于主流医学实践的治疗形式。其受欢迎程度正在上升。由于先前的调查有限且不可推广，我们估计了社区中替代医学使用的患病率、模式及相关因素。
在利雅得地区的沙特居民中进行了一项多阶段整群横断面家庭调查。2003年，由经过培训的访谈员从初级卫生保健中心使用专门设计的问卷收集数据。
参与研究的1408人中，39%为男性。研究人群的平均（±标准差）年龄为35.5（±13.9）岁。68%的受访者在过去12个月内使用过替代医学。将《古兰经》作为一种疗法是最常使用的替代医学（50.3%），其次是蜂蜜（40.1%）、黑种草籽（39.2%）和没药（35.4%）。健康信念模型被发现是替代医学使用的最重要决定因素。与替代医学使用独立相关的因素包括认为医疗治疗失败、认为替代医学成功、对天然材料的偏好以及看医生的预约间隔时间长。
利雅得地区替代医学的使用率很高，替代医学使用的最重要决定因素是认为医疗治疗失败。研究结果呼吁媒体开展强化健康教育活动，以纠正有关替代医学和现代医学的错误观念。替代医学在这个社区的流行应提醒决策者关注卫生系统难以获得的问题。
