Table 2.
Frequency of Information sources used by naturopathic practitioners to inform patient care, and frequency of source of knowledge and information shared by patients with naturopathic practitioners
| n (%) | Frequency of use | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Always | Most of the time | About half the time | Sometimes | Never | ||
| Information source used by naturopaths to inform patient care (n = 478) | ||||||
| Information published in scientific journals by researchers | 364 (76.2) | 68 (19.2) | 157 (44.4) | 66 (18.6) | 62 (17.5) | 1 (0.3) |
| Information gathered from conferences or other professional events | 354 (74.1) | 31 (10.2) | 87 (28.5) | 92 (30.2) | 94 (30.8) | 1 (0.3) |
| Information published in modern naturopathic clinical textbooks (published in the last 10 years) | 338 (70.7) | 27 (9.0) | 95 (31.8) | 71 (23.8) | 103 (34.5) | 3 (1.0) |
| Information from laboratory tests, pathology, or radiology tests | 335 (70.1) | 78 (27.7) | 110 (39.0) | 50 (17.7) | 44 (15.6) | 0 (0.0) |
| Information published in professional journals for clinicians | 333 (69.7) | 31 (9.9) | 115 (36.9) | 81 (26.0) | 83 (26.6) | 2 (0.6) |
| Information provided by the patient | 309 (64.6) | 205 (81.7) | 26 (10.4) | 9 (3.6) | 11 (4.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Information published in general clinical textbooks | 296 (61.9) | 24 (8.9) | 87 (32.1) | 59 (21.8) | 100 (36.9) | 1 (0.4) |
| Information from clinical guidelines | 248 (51.9) | 24 (12.2) | 85 (43.2) | 31 (15.7) | 54 (27.4) | 3 (1.5) |
| Information provided by product companies | 230 (48.1) | 7 (3.5) | 43 (21.5) | 51 (25.5) | 99 (49.5) | 0 (0.0) |
| Information published in traditional naturopathic clinical textbooks (published more than 50 years ago) | 193 (40.4) | 6 (3.5) | 46 (27.1) | 24 (14.1) | 87 (51.2) | 7 (4.1) |
| Source of knowledge or information shared by patients with their naturopathic practitioner | ||||||
| Patients perspective of living with their condition (n = 371) | 182 (49.1) | 149 (40.2) | 27 (7.3) | 13 (3.5) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Patient’s personal health history (n = 371) | 166 (44.9) | 126 (34.1) | 47 (12.7) | 29 (7.8) | 2 (0.5) | |
| Patient’s family health history (n = 371) | 101 (27.2) | 152 (41.0) | 54 (14.5) | 62 (16.7) | 2 (0.5) | |
| Conventional medical examinations or tests (n = 371) | 77 (20.8) | 164 (44.2) | 75 (20.2) | 51 (13.8) | 7 (1.1) | |
| Functional examinations or tests (e.g., urine/salivary hormone tests) (n = 369) | 48 (13.0) | 77 (20.9) | 78 (21.1) | 154 (41.7) | 12 (3.3) | |
| General internet sources (e.g., blogs, social media) (n = 370) | 36 (9.7) | 154 (41.6) | 93 (25.2) | 79 (21.4) | 8 (2.2) | |
| Other health professionals involved in their care (n = 371) | 21 (5.7) | 107 (28.8) | 115 (31.0) | 125 (33.7) | 3 (0.8) | |
| Informal sources (e.g., family and friends) (n = 371) | 20 (5.4) | 83 (22.4) | 113 (30.5) | 144 (38.8) | 11 (3.0) | |
| Books (n = 371) | 9 (2.4) | 46 (12.4) | 71 (19.2) | 229 (61.7) | 16 (4.3) | |
| Broadcast media (e.g., TV, radio) (n = 370) | 12 (3.2) | 63 (17.0) | 64 (17.3) | 196 (53.0) | 35 (9.5) | |
| Research organisations (n = 368) | 5 (1.4) | 10 (2.7) | 8 (2.2) | 208 (56.5) | 137 (37.2) | |
| Patient advocacy or support groups (n = 371) | 4 (1.1) | 13 (3.5) | 32 (8.6) | 219 (59.0) | 103 (27.8) | |
| Government agencies (n = 369) | 1 (0.3) | 9 (2.4) | 23 (6.2) | 217 (58.8) | 119 (32.3) | |
| Published journal articles (n = 371) | 1 (0.3) | 19 (15.1) | 13 (3.5) | 217 (58.5) | 121 (32.6) | |