Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 1997; 2: 191
Several recent studies have shown a very high acceptance of phytotherapy in the German population. Much less is known on the estimation of these drugs by physicians.
A questionnaire was sent to the 3141 general practitioners who were registered in Nordrhein. 27.2% of the questionnaires were returned, 520 could be evaluated. Descriptive statistics were performed with SPSS.
Phytotherapeutics drugs were prescribed by 84.8% of the physicians, 78.8% used them as an alternative to synthetic drugs, 62.9% preferred them to synthetic drugs at a given indication, 67.1% used them as an adjuvant. 83.5% of the physicians prescribed phytotherapeutics in diseases of the prostate gland, 80.8% used Crataegus, 80.8% sedative drugs, 80.0% antitussive drugs and 76.3% mucolytic, secretolytic and expectorant herbal drugs. From the younger practitioners (below 40 years), 70.8% used phytotherapy; the drugs were prescribed mainly to 51–65 year old patients (66.8% of this age-group). 86.7% of the patients preferred to be treated with herbal drugs. 90% from the 520 practitioners used complementary medicine, 91% wanted to prescribe phytotherapeutic drugs also in the next years.
Phytotherapeutic drugs have a high degree of acceptance in German general practitioners.
