Lobera Josep, Rogero-García Jesús
Department of Sociology, Autonomous University of Madrid.
Health Commun. 2021 Sep;36(10):1278-1285. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2020.1750764. Epub 2020 Apr 14.
Several studies have investigated the motivations driving the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). Nevertheless, the general public view of these therapies remains relatively unexplored. Our study identifies the social factors that determine a person's trust in alternative therapies, like homeopathy or acupuncture, drawing conclusions from the results of the Spanish National Survey on the Social Perception of Science and Technology (N = 6,357). We show that trust in the effectiveness of CAM therapies is not mutually exclusive with a belief in science for the general public, pointing to a certain level of disinformation. The comparison with superstitions confirms a clear differentiation with the drivers of trust in analyzed CAM therapies. We argue that scientific appearance of these alternative therapies, in terms of prescription, communication and marketing, may play an important role in determining trust in them for a large part of the population. Furthermore, we confirm that women and those with higher socio-economic status are more likely to express trust in the effectiveness of CAM therapies. Additionally, distrust of the influence of big pharma on health policies seems to have an effect on viewing CAM therapies as more effective. Finally, we argue that media and pharmacies may have an effect on the scientific-like perception of CAM therapies, contributing to the social construction of trust in its effectiveness. Therefore, widespread confusion about the scientific validation of homeopathy may be among the main factors driving its successful extension as a practice.
多项研究调查了促使人们使用补充和替代医学（CAM）的动机。然而，公众对这些疗法的看法仍相对缺乏探索。我们的研究从西班牙全国科技社会认知调查（N = 6357）的结果中得出结论，确定了决定一个人对顺势疗法或针灸等替代疗法信任程度的社会因素。我们表明，对于普通公众来说，对补充和替代医学疗法有效性的信任与对科学的信仰并非相互排斥，这表明存在一定程度的错误信息。与迷信的比较证实了与所分析的补充和替代医学疗法信任驱动因素的明显差异。我们认为，这些替代疗法在处方、宣传和营销方面的科学表象，可能在很大一部分人群对其信任的决定中发挥重要作用。此外，我们证实女性和社会经济地位较高的人更有可能表达对补充和替代医学疗法有效性的信任。此外，对大型制药公司对健康政策影响的不信任似乎会影响人们将补充和替代医学疗法视为更有效的疗法。最后，我们认为媒体和药店可能会影响对补充和替代医学疗法类似科学的认知，有助于在社会上构建对其有效性的信任。因此，对顺势疗法科学验证的普遍困惑可能是推动其作为一种疗法成功推广的主要因素之一。
