Comparative Study on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (cam) Use by Physicians in Romania and Hungary

Background and aim: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), as utilized by European citizens, represents a variety of different medical systems and therapies based on the knowledge, skills and practices derived from theories, philosophies and experiences used to maintain and improve health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, relieve or treat physical and mental illnesses. The purpose of the present paper was to apply a modified version of the Wahner-Roedler questionnaire and to evaluate differences in CAM use by family medicine physicians in Romania and Hungary. Material and method: The study included 117 Romanian and 107 Hungarian physicians, in order to compare the CAM therapies used. The data was collected from seven CAM practices in Romania and from eleven CAM practices in Hungary. All physicians completed the revised Wahner-Roedler questionnaire once, in their personal country’s language. We used the above-mentioned questionnaire having the permission of the authors of Wahner-Roedler DL et al study. Because praying for health is considered to be a very used CAM therapy in Romania and Hungary, we introduced it in the second section of the questionnaire. Results: The percentage of physicians who talk with their patients regarding possible benefits of using CAM therapies was significantly increased in Hungary as compared to Romania (14% vs 1.7%, p=0.002). The modified Wahner-Roedler Questionnaire indicated that Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Homeopathy, Phytotherapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Yoga are the most important methods with limited familiarity for Romanian comparative to Hungarian physicians. The percentage of Hungarian physicians that understand proposed medicinal use and feel comfortable counseling patients regarding Bowen therapy is significantly increased comparative to Romanian physicians (25.2% vs 9.4%, p=0.002). The analysis revealed that Chiropractic is less familiar for Romanian than Hungarian physicians, and for those who understand it, is less comfortable (p=0.024). 24.8% of Romanian physicians understand proposed medicinal use of Aromatherapy, but feel uncomfortable counseling patients as compared to 13.1% of Hungarian physicians (p=0.027). A higher percentage of Romanian physicians have limited familiarity in using Homeopathy, as compared to Hungarian physicians (45.3% vs 23.4%, p<0.001). 40.2% of Hungarian physicians understand proposed medicinal use of Osteopathy and feel comfortable counseling patients versus 24.8% Romanian physicians (p=0.014). Conclusions: The tendency to refer a patient to a CAM practitioner for treatment documented significant differences, being extremely likely in Hungarian physicians as compared to Romanian physicians.