Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012 Aug 21;12:131. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-131.
As complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has developed extensively, uncertainty about the appropriateness of the terms CAM and other CAM-related terms has grown both in the research and practice communities. Various terms and definitions have been proposed over the last three decades, highlighting how little agreement exits in the field. Contextual use of current terms and their respective definitions needs to be discussed and addressed.
Relying upon the results of a large international Delphi survey on the adequacy of the term CAM, a focus group of 13 international experts in the field of CAM was held. A forum was also set up for 28 international experts to discuss and refine proposed definitions of both CAM and integrative healthcare (IHC) terms. Audio recordings of the meeting and forum discussion threads were analyzed using interpretive description.
Multiple terms to describe the therapies, products, and disciplines often referred to as CAM, were considered. Even though participants generally agreed there is a lack of optimal definitions for popular CAM-related umbrella terms and that all terms that have so far been introduced are to some extent problematic, CAM and IHC remained the most popular and accepted terms by far. The names of the specific disciplines were also deemed adequate in certain contexts. Focus group participants clarified the context in which those three terms are appropriate. Existing and emergent definitions of both CAM and integrative healthcare terms were discussed.
CAM and other related terms could be used more effectively, provided they are used in the proper context. It appears difficult for the time being to reach a consensus on the definition of the term CAM due to the uncertainty of the positioning of CAM in the contemporary healthcare systems. While umbrella terms such as CAM and IHC are useful in the context of research, policy making and education, relevant stakeholders should limit the use of those terms.
随着补充和替代医学（CAM）的广泛发展，研究和实践界对 CAM 及其他相关术语的适当性的不确定性日益增加。在过去的三十年中，提出了各种术语和定义，突出了该领域的共识很少。需要讨论和解决当前术语的上下文使用及其各自的定义。
依靠一项关于 CAM 术语是否充分的大型国际德尔菲调查的结果，举行了一个由 13 名 CAM 领域国际专家组成的焦点小组会议。还为 28 名国际专家设立了一个论坛，以讨论和完善 CAM 和整体医疗保健（IHC）术语的拟议定义。使用解释性描述分析会议和论坛讨论线程的音频记录。
考虑了多个术语来描述通常被称为 CAM 的疗法、产品和学科。尽管与会者普遍认为，目前流行的与 CAM 相关的伞式术语缺乏最佳定义，而且迄今为止提出的所有术语在某种程度上都存在问题，但 CAM 和 IHC 仍然是迄今为止最受欢迎和最被接受的术语。特定学科的名称在某些情况下也被认为是合适的。焦点小组参与者澄清了这三个术语在适当背景下的含义。讨论了现有的和新兴的 CAM 和整体医疗保健术语的定义。
如果在适当的上下文中使用，CAM 和其他相关术语可以更有效地使用。由于 CAM 在当代医疗保健系统中的定位的不确定性，目前似乎很难就 CAM 术语的定义达成共识。虽然像 CAM 和 IHC 这样的伞式术语在研究、政策制定和教育方面很有用，但相关利益相关者应限制使用这些术语。
