Complementary and traditional medicine usage and attitudes of patients in family healthcare centers

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to determine the attitudes and usage of patients applying to primary health care centers towards traditional and complementary medicine. Method: This study was carried out with 303 patients who were randomly selected among the patients aged 18-65 who applied for any reason from the 1st of June 2020 to 30th of August in 2020 in four Family Health Centers determined by the Hatay Provincial Health Directorate. Our study questionnaire consisted of 12 questions containing sociodemographic information and 22 questions including attitude and use case questions about traditional and complementary medicine. Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.8 ± 13.8 years, and the patients using traditional and complementary medicine were older (p= 0.027). Of the participants 44.2% (n = 134) were male and the use of traditional and complementary medicine was similar in both genders (p = 0.247). The rate of using traditional and complementary medicine in the study was 24.1% (n=73). The use of traditional and complementary medicine was higher among healthcare workers and the unemployed participants (p= 0,045). No significant relationship was found between traditional and complementary medicine use and educational status, income level, health insurance, marital status, place of residence, social habits, comorbidity and drug use. Social media (30.7%) (n=93) and friends / neighbors (30.4%) (n=92) are the leading sources of information on traditional and complementary medicine. It was determined that the most common reason for using traditional and complementary medicine was repeated applications (76.6%) with the same complaints before (n=56). It was found that the most commonly used methods were phytotherapy (28.4%) (n=86) and leech therapy (22.8%) (n=59). The patients most frequently refer to traditional and complementary medicine because of musculoskeletal disease (43.8%) (n=32). xi Conclusion: Traditional and complementary medicine methods are methods that can be used as an aid to modern medicine. It is necessary to contribute to the development of studies and methods used in traditional and complementary medicine. Key words: Traditional and Complementary Medicine, primary care, attitude, family medicine