Treatment recommendation in complementary medicine: a selective network

Author(s): Canter, D.

Abstract: The current study evaluates the nature and extent of treatment recommendation by complementary practitioners, and identifies relationships between treatments practised and recommended. Results indicate that practitioners recommend well-established treatments (eg. acupuncture, osteopathy and homoeopathy) and core treatments (eg. exercise and diet) most frequently, and fringe treatments (eg. gem therapy) least frequently. There is far greater similarity between practitioners in the recommendation of well-established treatments than in their use, suggesting that they form a network within which considerable cross-referral takes place. Orthodox medication and psychotherapy are both widely recommended and represent the interface between complementary and other systems of treatment, rather than being integrated into the complementary treatment network.

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