Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St., Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Jan 28;10:5. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-10-5.
We aimed to describe prevailing attitudes and practices of rheumatologists in the United States toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments. We wanted to determine whether rheumatologists' perceptions of the efficacy of CAM therapies and their willingness to recommend them relate to their demographic characteristics, geographic location, or clinical practices.
A National Institutes of Health-sponsored cross-sectional survey of internists and rheumatologists was conducted regarding CAM for treatment of chronic back pain or joint pain. In this study we analyzed responses only from rheumatologists. Response items included participant characteristics and experience with 6 common CAM categories, as defined by the National Institutes of Health. Descriptive statistics were used to describe attitudes to CAM overall and to each CAM category. Composite responses were devised for respondents designating 4 or more of the 6 CAM therapies as "very" or "moderately" beneficial or "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to recommend.
Of 600 rheumatologists who were sent the questionnaire, 345 responded (58%); 80 (23%) were women. Body work had the highest perceived benefit, with 70% of respondents indicating benefit. Acupuncture was perceived as beneficial by 54%. Most were willing to recommend most forms of CAM. Women had significantly higher composite benefit and recommend responses than men. Rheumatologists not born in North America were more likely to perceive benefit of select CAM therapies.
In this national survey of rheumatologists practicing in the United States, we found widespread favorable opinion toward many, but not all, types of CAM. Further research is required to determine to what extent CAM can or should be integrated into the practice of rheumatology in the United States.
我们旨在描述美国风湿病学家对补充和替代医学（CAM）治疗的普遍态度和实践。我们想确定风湿病学家对 CAM 疗法疗效的看法及其推荐这些疗法的意愿是否与其人口统计学特征、地理位置或临床实践有关。
一项由美国国立卫生研究院资助的针对慢性背痛或关节痛的 CAM 治疗的内科医生和风湿病学家的横断面调查。在这项研究中，我们仅分析了风湿病学家的回复。回复项目包括参与者的特征以及对 6 种常见 CAM 类别的经验，这些类别是由美国国立卫生研究院定义的。使用描述性统计来描述对 CAM 的总体态度和对每个 CAM 类别的态度。对于指定 4 种或以上 6 种 CAM 疗法为“非常”或“中度”有益或“非常可能”或“有些可能”推荐的受访者，设计了综合回复。
在发送问卷的 600 名风湿病学家中，有 345 名（58%）做出了回应；80 名（23%）是女性。身体工作被认为最有益，有 70%的受访者表示有益。针灸被认为是有益的，有 54%的受访者认为。大多数人愿意推荐大多数形式的 CAM。女性在综合受益和推荐反应方面的得分明显高于男性。非北美出生的风湿病学家更有可能认为某些 CAM 疗法有益。
在这项对在美国执业的风湿病学家的全国性调查中，我们发现广泛的观点认为许多 CAM 疗法是有益的，但并非所有类型的 CAM 疗法都是有益的。需要进一步研究以确定 CAM 在多大程度上可以或应该被整合到美国风湿病学的实践中。
