Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2004; 9: 06
The aim was to investigate the predictors of ongoing use of and adherence to CM. It was hypothesised that while patients’ beliefs about treatment and perceptions of illness would predict ongoing use of CM, patients’ experiences of treatment would be the strongest predictors.
This was a postal questionnaire study involving two waves of data collection. The dependent variables were measured 3 months after the predictor variables. The predictor variables were patients’ beliefs about treatment, perceptions of illness and experiences of treatment. The dependent variables were ongoing use of CM (making follow-up appointments) and adherence to practitioners’ recommendations to make lifestyle changes (e.g. diet, exercise). Variables were assessed by previously validated self-report questionnaires. Two hundred and seventy-nine patients from six CM clinics participated in the study.
Logistic regression analyses showed that patients’ beliefs about and experiences of treatment accounted for 47% of the variance in making lifestyle changes and 35% of the variance in making follow-up appointments. Abstract beliefs and concrete experiences were statistically reliable predictors of making lifestyle changes (X2(25) = 59.79, P < 0.001) and making follow-up appointments (X2(18) = 52.98, P < 0.001). Overall experiences of treatment were stronger predictors than beliefs about treatment and illness.
The results suggest that people return to CM primarily because they have positive experiences of the treatment process.
The first author was funded by an ESRC CASE studentship in collaboration with Boots plc.
