A Survey on Perceptions of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Undergraduates in China

Table 3

Beliefs and attitudes toward health and CAM.

	Disagree (%)	Neutral (%)	Agree (%)
Physical health and mental health are maintained by an underlying energy or vital force.	19.8	26.6	53.6
Health and disease are a reflection of balance between positive life-enhancing forces and negative destructive forces.	13.8	25.2	61.0
The body is essentially self-healing, and the task of a healthcare provider is to assist in the healing process.	29.4	24.5	46.1
A patient’s symptoms should be regarded as a manifestation of a general imbalance or dysfunction affecting the whole body.	7.7	20.3	72
A patient’s expectations, health beliefs, and values should be integrated into the patient care process.	4.3	13.6	82.1
Complementary therapies are a threat to public health.	83.5	9.4	7.1
Treatments not tested in a scientifically recognized manner should be discouraged.	36.8	23.6	39.6
Effects of complementary therapies are usually the result of a placebo effect.	73.9	15.8	10.3
Complementary therapies include ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit.	8.3	20.5	71.2
Most complementary therapies stimulate the body’s natural therapeutic powers.	19.7	30	50.3
I feel it is a common phenomenon that the people around my place of residence use CAM.	24.4	50.6	25
I think CAM should be integrated into WM.	3.9	17	79.1
I think CAM has fewer side effects than WM.	20	26	54
I think clinical doctors should be better equipped with knowledge of CAM.	7.7	27.2	65.1
I think all healthcare professional should accept that patients are using CAM.	3.4	21.6	75
I think CAM can only treat minor illnesses but not serious illnesses.	70.2	20.5	9.3
I would like to recommend CAM to others.	6.4	20	73.6