The Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine: an attempt to understand its popularity through psychological, demographic and operational criteria

Abstract: The Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine was used to collect a sample of patients using alternative medicine. These were given the Wallston HLC and AAM scales. In addition, further information was gathered as to the patients' personal details, and general attitudes and beliefs towards medical practice.From the results several independent measures were used to test the validity of the AAM scale. It was found to be a fairly good predictor of general attitudes a d associated behaviours. Demographic details supported the view that alternative practitioners deal with a high proportion of patients with:1.Long-term chronic ailments2.Those unable to find a conventional diagnosis for their symptoms3.Those unresponsive to conventional treatmentThe main reason for choosing alternative medicine was due to thefailure of conventional medicine to bring about a satisfactory improvement in their condition (45% of patients stated this as their reason).It was felt overall that the patients at the Centre could be divided into two groups on the basis of their scores on the AAM scale:Type 1: Those who turn to alternative medicine as a last resort, and do not appear to embrace the theory or underlying philosophy of the approach. Their HILC is similar to that of the general population.Type 2: Those who show much more commitment to alternativemedicine in general. They are more likely to choose alternative approaches due to belief rather than as a last resort. Their HLC is significantly more internal than that of either the general population or Type 1 patients.The implications of this split in patient type was examined in relation to the so-called placebo effect, which is often claimed to be the main mechanism of action of alternative medicine.

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