ABSTRACT
Background@#Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a popular treatment option among patients. There is a need to assess the content of published local literature on complementary and alternative medicine in dermatology in the Journal of the Philippine Dermatological Society (JPDS) to provide evidence for its integration into clinical practice and to guide future research.@*Objective@#To analyze the content of published literature on complementary and alternative medicine published in the JPDS@*Method@#We screened the titles and abstracts of all published articles in the JPDS from 1992-2017 and included articles on any aspect of complementary and alternative medicine. We extracted relevant characteristics such as study design, disease, type and details of CAM therapies, from the included articles. We summarized data using descriptive statistics for continuous data, and frequency distribution for ordinal data.@*Results@#CAM articles accounted for 4% of all published articles in the JPDS over the past 25 years of its existence. Most were RCTs (22%) (mean size=69), with the greatest number being on herbal medicine (66%), and for the treatment of infections, infestations and bites (46%). Majority of articles were primarily authored by resident trainees (87%) and the most common institutional affiliation was UP-PGH (24%). Among the herbal articles, the most common herb family was Fabaceae (9%), while coconut had the highest number of articles. Leaves were the most common plant part used (40%), and creams were the predominant type of formulation (29%). Other CAM interventions included were animal products, dietary supplements, and lifestyle modification.@*Conclusion@#The poor representation of CAM in the JPDS may reflect the lack of integration of this field in the local practice of dermatology. There is a need to increase awareness and gather more evidence on the application of CAM in the maintenance of healthy skin as well as prevention and treatment of skin diseases.
Subject(s)
Complementary Therapies , Medicine, Traditional , HerbalABSTRACT
Background@#Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) remains a major challenge worldwide. Physicians have a crucial role in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and must be equipped with proper knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP). No study has been done to assess the KAP of dermatologists related to HIV-AIDS.@*Objective@#The study’s objective was to determine the KAP of Philippine Dermatological Society (PDS) members related to HIV/AIDS.@*Methods@#A cross-sectional study was done among PDS members from February to November 2017 utilizing a questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic questions and KAP questions related to HIV.@*Results@#Out of 210 participants, 71.43% show good working knowledge, 60.95% show negative attitudes, 55.71% show bad practices related to HIV/AIDS. Members aged 29 to 37 years old, having worked as dermatologists for 1 to 8 years, and having worked in the health care sector for 1 to 8 years have better working knowledge on HIV/AIDS. Although with lesser duration of work as dermatologist, these members have more positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. These findings may be attributed to greater exposure to HIV cases and better ability to access information by internet among younger dermatologists. Gender is not significantly associated with KAP related to HIV/AIDS. Practice related to HIV/AIDS is not significantly associated with any demographic variables. Bad working knowledge related to HIV/AIDS is associated with negative attitude and bad practices. This can be attributed to insufficient training in the field of HIV/AIDS.@*Conclusion@#Majority of PDS members show negative attitudes, bad practices, but good working knowledge related to HIV/AIDS.