Parents' views about alternative practices in children

Abstract

Although alternative or complementary medicine practices in children are quite common in the community, method sorts and the adverse effects of these practices are not well known. This study evaluated the views of the parents of pediatric patients on such alternative practices. In this cross-sectional study, the study group was composed of parents of the patients presenting to Kirikkale University, pediatric out patient and inpatient clinics, and five health centers in central Ankara between June-September 2008. Previously prepared questionnaires were completed during face to face interviews. Totally, 477 mothers and fathers [132 (27.6%) men, 345 (72.4%) women] were enrolled in the study. The rate of parents who used a natural/herbal product without a doctor's recommendation for his/her child during the year was 27.2%, and they were commonly used for constipation (30.8%), cough (22.5%) and colic (14.8%). These products were recommended usually by mothers (31.1%), friends (21.9%) and doctors (6.5%). Commonly known alternative treatment methods outside modern medicine were thermal water (82.6%), herbal tea (21.2%), acupuncture (14.9%), massage (5.7%), and bioenergy (2.1%). Usage rate of herbal products by parents whose youngest child was under 4 years of age (23.9%) was higher than for those who had older children (16.1%) (p<0.05). Overall, 22.9% of the parents considered alternative treatment methods to be as effective as medical treatment and 86.9% felt that more scientific evidence was needed before using these methods. People from every part of the community are commonly utilizing alternative medicine practices for themselves or their children. Therefore, modern medicine practitioners should not underestimate this issue in their clinical practice.