ABSTRACT
The study was done to estimate the prevalence of use of alternative and complementary medicine in a sample in Ajman UAE. The major factors influencing the use of alternative medicine alone was also determined. Furthermore, the study was done to determine the most common musculoskeletal problems where CAM is used. A cross sectional study was conducted among 305 subjects. The study included the doctors and staff members of Gulf Medical University and Gulf Medical Hospital over the age of 20 years. Data was analyzed using SPSS program and Chi square test was done to test association between usage of CAM and demographic values. Complementary and Alternative medicine [CAM] is widespread in the UAE. Out of the surveyed population, 51.1% of subjects documented they used alternative medicine. Out of these, 30.1% use it alongside allopathic medicine. Most subjects used Ayurveda [34%] for general aches and pain [46.8%]. Most subjects chose CAM because they felt that "allopathics were not effective" [30.2%]. They also felt that the benefit of using CAM was "relieving stress" [23%] and "reducing the severity of the condition" at [22.6%]. Pain killers were most commonly used alongside alternative medicine [48.2%]. No significant difference was found between the effectiveness of CAM alone and CAM with allopathics. Most of the participants used Ayurveda for general ache and pain. A greater percentage of people said that they used CAM because allopathics were ineffective and found that it relieves stress