The i̇mpact of the COVİD-19 pandemic on patients' view of traditional and complementary medicine

Aim: The aim of our study is to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the patients' view of GETAT, modern medicine and holistic medicine. Materials and Methods: Our study is cross-sectional descriptive and the the population of the study consist of the patients who applied to Erzincan Mengücek Gazi Training and Research Hospital Family Medicine Polyclinic between January 2022 and October 2022. Individuals ages 18 and over, volunteer, who knows Turkish were inclued in the study. The sociodemographic questionnare consisting of the 18 questions and the GETAT attitude scala (CACMAS) consisting of 27 questions conducted Turkish validity and reliability of Köse et al. prepared by Mc-FADDEN et al. to the participants was applied the face-to-face interview technique. This pilot study was conducted with 38 people. During this study, some survey questions were changed, some questions were added, and some were removed from the survey to create a more useful and practical data collection questionnaire. These changes were made only on demographic data abd the GETAT information questionnaire. No changes have been made to the CACMAS questionnaire. According to the results of the pilot study, the sample calculation was made and conducted with 450 people. Results: In the dimension of "dissatisfaction with modern medicine" of those who were not vaccinated against COVID, the mean score was found to be statistically higher than those who were vaccinated (p=0,004 and p=0,003 respectively). In both sexes, the outlook for GETAT has increased in all age groups with and without covid, with and without chronic diseases, has increased more positively after COVID compared to before COVID. Those who preferred the GETAT method in their family and themselves have a statistically significant higher view of GETAT (p<0,001). In the group where the practitioner was a "physician", the mean values for "view of traditional medicine" and "dissatisfaction with modern medicine" were statistically higher than the other groups (p<0,001). Conclusion: The average score of post-covid was found to be higher than before covid in the "total score", "view of traditional medicine", "dissatisfaction with modern medicine" and "holistic view of health" subscales. It was found that after COVID, the outlook for xv GETAT positively increased. It should be known that GETAT can be complementary, not alternative to modern medicine, and it should be used integrally with modern medicine, and the applications are not completely harmless. The situations that can and cannot be used should be explained to the public through both the media and physicians. Key Words: Traditional medicine, Complementary medicine, Modern medicine, Holistic medicine, Family practice, COVID-19