TOPLINE:
Neurology clinicians generally view complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM) as promising for patient care, but lack of scientific evidence and lack of training make them uncomfortable about recommending and discussing these therapies.
METHODOLOGY:
- Investigators conducted an international cross-sectional electronic survey, analysing responses from 783 published neurology authors.
- Respondents were mainly from Europe (45.2%) and the Americas (35.0%), and faculty members/principal investigators (53.5%) and clinicians (33.7%).
- The main outcomes were practices, perceptions, and attitudes towards CAIM.
- CAIM was categorised as biologically based practices (eg, herbal and dietary supplements), body-based practices (eg, chiropractic therapy and massage), mind-body therapies (eg, meditation, yoga, and biofeedback), and whole medical systems (eg, traditional Chinese medicine).
TAKEAWAY:
- The respondents generally perceived CAIM to be promising for preventing, treating, and/or managing neurologic diseases.
- They viewed mind-body therapies most positively, with the majority agreeing that these therapies are promising (59.0%) and safe (50.3%).
- Many clinician respondents reported that they had never received any formal training (70.3%) or supplementary training (52.5%) on CAIM.
- They often felt uncomfortable counselling patients about these therapies (44.5%) and recommending them (59.3%).
- The greatest challenge noted to the use of CAIM was a lack of scientific evidence for its safety and efficacy, cited by 92.5% of all respondents.
IN PRACTICE:
"Our study…establishes a compelling case for improving CAIM education and training efforts for medical professionals in neurology," the authors wrote. "Knowledge of how CAIM practices are perceived can help tailor educational resources and initiatives that better suit the needs of neurology researchers and clinicians, and in turn, encourages safe and informed patient care," they added.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Jeremy Y. Ng, MSc, PhD, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, and the Robert Bosch Center for Integrative Medicine and Health, Stuttgart, Germany, and was published online in BMC Neurology.
LIMITATIONS:
Limitations included a low survey response rate with possible response bias, potential drawbacks to the categorisation of CAIM therapies, and uncertain generalisability.
DISCLOSURES:
The study did not receive any funding. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
