Knowledge and attitudes of health care providers towards the use of traditional and complementary/alternative medicine in Rwanda

Abstract

Background The use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) is widespread around the world, especially in low-income countries due to cultural differences and difficulty accessing conventional medicine. Aim: This study was designed to evaluate the knowledge, experience, and thoughts of healthcare providers (HCPs) towards TCAM use. Method: It is cross-sectional research that was carried out on HCPs working in healthcare settings in Kigali and Southern Province. It involved 232 participants. The data were collected using Google forms. Results: Among 232 participants included in this study, 76.7% were of the male gender, Seventy-seven percent were in the young age group of 18-35 years, 80% were residing in the urban area and fifty-three percent of responders were medical doctors followed by nurses (34.9%). The knowledge of HCPs on TCAM was graded moderate to low in 91.3% of respondents and they were aware mainly of diet supplements (93.53%), prayers, and spirituality (79.31%). The knowledge was acquired mainly from media (54.7%) followed by relatives/friends (53.4%) and parents (44%). Forty-six percent of the participants responded that TCAM can be used to treat musculoskeletal pain while twenty-five percent of participants responded that TCAM can be used to treat hypertension. Considering the experience of HCPs in using TCAM, nearly forty percent of the participants responded that they used TCAM as a preventive measure for themselves while 47.8% of participants reported that they ever used modalities of TCAM and among 42.6% of respondents who used TCAM for their illness, they used diet supplements (62.6%), herbal medicine (58.59%), and prayers /spirituality (24%). Of all participants, the minority (32.76%) recommended TCAM to patients in their practice, and few of the respondents (16.3%) said that they can recommend TCAM to patients consulting conventional medicine; however, there was no connection between the characteristics of the participants and the use or recommendation of TCAM. Sixty percent of participants suggested including TCAM in the curricula of universities that teach health-related fields. Conclusion: Although TCAM is being used by the general population and health care providers, the knowledge among HCPs on TCAM is graded from moderate to low. Diet supplements and phytomedicine are commonly used modalities and only a few HCPs would recommend TCAM to patients. But the majority of HCPs recommend that TCAM should be taught in health-related fields at universities. Furthermore, evidence-based studies are needed to assess the effectiveness and limitations of TCAM.