Abstract

Though an increasing interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has naturally led to an increase in research, there is no guideline for CAM and also it is hard to find the research which is focus to the patients' psychosocial characteristics. This study was designed to investigate the affinity for CAM, and to figure out what could be the main factor to choose CAM in the view of psychosocial analysis. During the three months periods, we surveyed total of 146 patients who visited department of Family Medicine in the university hospital in Seoul and Chung Ju. Excluding 16 patients with inadequate answers to survey, total subjects were made to 130. The questionnaire was consist of three aspects; 1) affinity for CAM and the type of therapy managed, 2) Multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) by Wallston etc.(1978), 3) Coping scale by Holahan and Moos(1991). By this questionnaire, we analyzed the general information of utilizing alternative medicine and the factors affecting the satisfaction of treatment, which are demographic characteristics, medical history, satisfaction of conventional medicine or CAM, and association of psychosocial characteristics with CAM use. All subjects were classified by the preference for CAM. According to the results of this experiment, higher educated people (postgraduate school) preferred CAM (p<0.05), but higher familial income favored orthodox medicine (p<0.05). Seventy six percent of participants had experienced alternative medicine at least once. The participants with high level of internal health locus of control (IHLC) or chance health locus of control (CHLC), or emotional-oriented coping preferred pharmacological and physiological alternative medicine. The participants with high level of powerful others externality (PHLC), or task-oriented coping or avoidance-oriented coping mostly preferred manual therapy. By contrast with orthodox medicine, psychosocial factors play an important role in use of CAM, because most patients make choices of CAM without any guidance from medical doctors or conventional care providers. Therefore, understanding of patients' psychosocial factors may help both researchers and health care providers understanding patients' needs more effectively and to achieve better adherence to treatment recommendations.