Table 3.
CAIMAQ item-wise differences in attitudes of second- and final-year medical students and faculty [15]
| CAIMAQ item | Second year N = 74 |
Final year N = 40 |
Faculty N = 24 |
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| Median | IQR | Median | IQR | Median | IQR | |||
| A patient’s treatment should take into consideration all aspects of his or her physical, mental and spiritual health. | 7 | 6-7 | 6 | 5-7 | 6 | 6-6† | ||
| Patients whose doctors know about complementary and alternative medicine, in addition to conventional medicine, benefit more than those whose doctors are only familiar with conventional medicine. | 6 | 4-6 | 6 | 5-6 | 4 | 3-5§ | ||
| When systems of alternative medicine (such as traditional Chinese medicine) are found to be efficacious in treatment of a disease, doctors should recommend them even though these systems may rely on unknown mechanisms. | 4 | 3-6 | 5 | 4-6 | 2 | 0-4§ | ||
| The spiritual beliefs of patients play an important role in their recovery. | 5 | 4-6 | 5 | 5-6* | 5 | 4-5 | ||
| A system of medicine that integrates therapies of both conventional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine would be more effective than either conventional medicine or complementary and alternative medicine provided independently. | 5 | 4-6 | 6 | 5-6 | 4 | 1-4§ | ||
| The use of herbal products represents a legitimate form of medicine that can treat a wide variety of disease. | 5 | 4-6 | 5 | 4-6 | 4 | 3-5§ | ||
| Patients who express themselves through creative outlets such as art, music or dance may achieve significant health benefits through these activities. | 6 | 5-6 | 6 | 5-7 | 5 | 4-5§ | ||
| Doctors who lead a balanced lifestyle (i.e., attending to their own health, social, family and spiritual needs, as well as interests beyond medicine) generate improved patient satisfaction. | 6 | 5-7 | 6 | 5-7* | 5 | 4-5† | ||
| Complementary and alternative medicine contains beliefs, ideas and therapies from which conventional medicine could benefit. | 5 | 4-6 | 6 | 4-6 | 4 | 4-5§ | ||
| A strong relationship between patients and their doctors is a valuable therapeutic intervention that leads to improved outcomes. | 6 | 5-6 | 6 | 5-6 | 5 | 4-5§ | ||
| Whenever reasonable, a physician should provide patients with hope and a positive attitude toward healing. | 6 | 5-7 | 6 | 5-6 | 6 | 6-6‡ | ||
| A patient who is an active participant in his or her care is likely to experience improved outcomescompared with a patient who is a passive participant. | 6 | 5-6 | 6 | 5-6 | 6 | 6-7§ | ||
| Doctors should consider referring patients to alternative health care providers such as homeopaths or naturopaths for conditions poorly managed by conventional medicine. | 5 | 4-6 | 5 | 4-6 | 2 | 1-3§ | ||
| It is ethical for doctors to recommend therapies to patients that involve the use of subtle energy fields in and around the body for medical purposes. | 5 | 3-6 | 5 | 4-6 | 0 | 0-4§ | ||
| Treatments of complementary and alternative medicine tend to be less invasive that those of conventional medicine, and may help to reduce the risk of side effects and iatrogenesis. | 5 | 4-6 | 5 | 4-6 | 4 | 2-4§ | ||
*p < 0.05 for second- and final-year student comparison; †p < 0.05 for second-year student and faculty comparison; ‡p < 0.05 for final-year student and faculty comparison; §p < 0.05 for second- and final-year student and faculty comparison.