Table 7.
Practitioners Who Encountered Various Obstacles in the Conduct of Cancer CAM Research Projects and Who Indicated that the Obstacle Was the Most Significant (%)
| Obstacle | % Encountering the Obstacle | % Indicating It Was Most Significant |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of awareness of appropriate funding sources | 75.4 | 10.0 |
| Lack of access to appropriate cancer research collaborators | 72.1 | 11.7 |
| Difficulty in designing a CAM research study that meets grant requirements (excluding placebo-related problems) |
60.7 | 8.3 |
| Lack of time | 59.0 | 11.7 |
| Lack of institutional support | 55.7 | 8.3 |
| Institutional Review Board issues/regulations | 54.1 | 3.3 |
| Lack of success in receiving funds for CAM research | 52.5 | 11.7 |
| Food and Drug Administration issues/regulations | 50.8 | 5.0 |
| Nonacceptance of research reports for journal publication | 45.9 | 5.0 |
| Negative perceptions among peers regarding the acceptability of CAM research |
44.3 | 5.0 |
| Lack of access to appropriate CAM practitioners | 31.2 | 0.0 |
| Difficulty in identifying an appropriate placebo | 31.2 | 0.0 |
| Difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of patients | 29.5 | 1.7 |
| Other obstacle | 13.1 | 8.3 |
CAM = complementary and alternative medicine.