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Commentary on Bishop

The Fascination of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Universities of Exeter & Plymouth, UK, edzard.ernst{at}pms.ac.uk

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is more popular than ever before; at least this is what syrvey data seems to imply, yet we need to keep in mind that, for a range of reasons, such data are notoriously soft. CAM is by no means a well-defined entity; the prevalence of and reasons for using acupuncture are almost certainly different from those relating to crystal healing. Moreover, we tend to forget that virtually none of the questionnaires used to study these phenomeana are validated, and we all know that answers depend on how questions are being formulated. It seems to follow that surveys are of only limited value and might even distract us from the much more important question whether CAM generates more good than harm.

Key Words: alternative medicine • prevalence of use • reasons for use • systematic review • survey

References

• Ernst, E. (2006). Prevalence surveys: To be taken with a pinch of salt. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 12(4), 272—275.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Ernst, E., Pittler, M.H., Wider, B., & Boddy, K. (2006). The desktop guide to complementary and alternative medicine, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Elsevier Mosby.
• Royal Society. (2006). Complementary and alternative medicines. Available at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/landing.asp?id=5283 (accessed 4 October 2006).

Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 12, No. 6, 868-870 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1359105307082448


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ernst, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ernst, E. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?