The Relationship of Factors Affecting Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices with Regular Drug Use, Presence of Chronic Disease and Level of Knowledge: A Cross-Sectional Research

Abstract

ABS TRACT Objective: The main purpose of this study is to deter- mine the factors that are effective in the preference of traditional and complementary medicine practices and to investigate the relationship between these factors with regular drug use, the presence of chronic disease and the level of knowledge. Material and Methods: Commu- nity-based cross-sectional study design was used. The population of the study consisted of middle and elderly individuals who applied to a Family Health Center operating in Düzce province in September-October-November-December 2020. The data were conducted over 400 people using face-to-face questionnaire technique. In the study, convenience sampling method was preferred. Results: Factors affecting the preference of traditional and complementary medicine practices according to the results of explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis; it has been found as “effectiveness”, “accessibility”, “having fewer side effects” and “philosophically compatibility”. According to the results of confirmatory factor analysis, it was seen that the model goodness of fit indexes were at an acceptable fit level. In addition, significant rela- tionships were found between regular drug use, having a chronic disease, and the level of traditional and complementary medicine knowledge with the reasons for preference of traditional and complementary medicine practices. Conclusion: It has been observed that in- dividuals who regularly use drugs, have any chronic diseases and have a high level of knowledge about traditional and complementary medi- cine practices have a more positive attitude towards traditional and complementary medicine treatments.