Table 4.
Professional Group, % | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAM Providers | Conventional Health Care Professionals | |||||
Response Item | Acupuncturists | Naturopaths | General Internists | Rheumatologists | P Value | |
Importance of decision factors | ||||||
Clinical experience “very Important” | 90 | 92 | 74 | 80 | <.001 | |
Published research “very important” | 27 | 30 | 64 | 76 | <.001 | |
Patient preferences “very important” | 58 | 63 | 53 | 43 | <.001 | |
Research usefulness | ||||||
RCTs are “very useful” | 17 | 24 | 58 | 74 | <.001 | |
Most important factor | ||||||
Clinical experience | 79 | 81 | 50 | 50 | <.001 | |
Published research | 3 | 5 | 37 | 43 | ||
Patient preferences | 15 | 14 | 12 | 6 | ||
Least important factor | ||||||
Clinical experience | 2 | 3 | 16 | 16 | <.001 | |
Published research | 70 | 66 | 31 | 20 | ||
Patient preferences | 27 | 31 | 53 | 64 |
Abbreviations: CAM, complementary and alternative medicine; RCTs, randomized controlled trials.