@article {Verhoef121, author = {M. J. Verhoef and L. R. Sutherland and L. Brkich}, title = {Use of alternative medicine by patients attending a gastroenterology clinic}, volume = {142}, number = {2}, pages = {121--125}, year = {1990}, publisher = {CMAJ}, abstract = {We carried out a study to determine the proportion of patients attending a university-based gastroenterology outpatient clinic who sought alternative medical care for the same health problem that had prompted them to see a gastroenterologist. After the patients completed a self-administered questionnaire, the gastroenterologist gave a diagnosis and assigned a functional rating. Of the 395 patients 287 (73\%) had not used alternative medicine, and 36 (9\%) had sought alternative medical care for the problem that had prompted them to see a gastroenterologist. There were no significant differences between alternative medicine users and nonusers in sociodemographic characteristics, use of health care services or general health status. Patients with a functional disease were more likely to seek alternative medical care than those with organic disease (33\% v. 7\%) (p less than 0.0001). Fewer alternative medicine users (54\%) than nonusers (85\%) were satisfied with conventional medicine (p less than 0.001), and more alternative medicine users (49\%) than nonusers (13\%) were very sceptical of conventional medicine (p less than 0.0001).}, issn = {0820-3946}, URL = {https://www.cmaj.ca/content/142/2/121}, eprint = {https://www.cmaj.ca/content}, journal = {CMAJ} }