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. 2021 Aug 6;21:205. doi: 10.1186/s12906-021-03383-2

Table 3.

Knowledge sought from each information source, and how the knowledge is applied [presents results from respondents that reported using this information source]

Information source used Knowledge sought from the information source Application of knowledge from the information source
How a treatment works How a treatment might benefit my patient The safety of a treatment for my patient Understanding of my patient’s health condition Understanding about treatments of my patient has been prescribed by another health professional To share with my patient To share with other health professionals To inform my own clinical decisions for an individual patient To share with the general community To develop clinical practice guidelines or policies for a group of patients To produce useful research or scientific knowledge
Information published in scientific journals by researchers (n = 354) 279 (78.8) 311 (87.9) 296 (83.6) 242 (68.4) 234 (66.1) 283 (80.2) 187 (53.0) 322 (91.2) 136 (38.5) 117 (33.1) 106 (30.0)
Information gathered from conferences or other professional events (n = 305) 250 (82.0) 282 (92.5) 236 (77.4) 229 (75.1) 184 (60.3) 216 (71.0) 151 (49.7) 279 (91.8) 108 (35.5) 111 (36.5) 49 (16.1)
Information published in modern naturopathic clinical textbooks (published in the last 10 years) (n = 297) 226 (76.1) 260 (87.5) 229 (77.1) 204 (68.7) 135 (45.5) 213 (71.5) 117 (39.3) 262 (87.9) 96 (32.2) 93 (31.2) 54 (18.1)
Information from laboratory tests, pathology, or radiology tests (n = 282) 65 (23.0) 133 (47.2) 123 (43.6) 261 (92.6) 106 (37.6) 228 (81.1) 85 (30.3) 264 (94.0) 21 (7.5) 47 (16.7) 40 (14.2)
Information published in professional journals for clinicians (n = 312) 265 (84.9) 284 (91.0) 262 (84.0) 226 (72.4) 199 (63.8) 240 (76.9) 152 (48.7) 290 (93.0) 114 (36.5) 100 (32.1) 78 (25.0)
Information provided by the patient (n = 252 65 (25.8) 130 (51.6) 114 (45.2) 239 (94.8) 158 (62.7) 106 (42.4) 53 (21.2) 234 (93.6) 19 (7.6) 40 (16.0) 33 (13.2)
Information published in general clinical textbooks (n = 271) 193 (71.2) 205 (75.7) 186 (68.6) 229 (84.5) 152 (56.1) 182 (67.3) 97 (15.9) 210 (67.3) 88 (32.6) 75 (27.8) 56 (20.7)
Information from clinical guidelines (n = 196) 107 (54.6) 145 (74.0) 162 (82.7) 105 (53.6) 109 (55.6) 126 (64.6) 81 (41.5) 174 (89.2) 54 (27.7) 83 (42.6) 38 (19.5)
Information provided by product companies (n = 200) 146 (73.0) 176 (88.0) 166 (83.0) 62 (31.0) 70 (35.0) 132 (66.0) 59 (29.5) 175 (87.5) 41 (20.5) 47 (23.5) 22 (11.0)
Information published in traditional naturopathic clinical textbooks (published more than 50 years ago) (n = 169) 117 (69.2) 153 (90.5) 86 (50.9) 89 (52.7) 59 (34.9) 115 (68.5) 71 (42.3) 142 (84.5) 55 (32.7) 33 (19.6) 26 (15.5)