Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Delivery of Health Care/ethics , Health Priorities/ethics , Health Promotion/organization & administration , Primary Health Care/ethics , Social Responsibility , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Health Priorities/organization & administration , Humans , Primary Health Care/organization & administration , United StatesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Patients who include a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioner in their health care represent a small percentage of the population identified as CAM users. Their choice may be motivated by intangible personality or worldview characteristics. OBJECTIVE: A prospective study was designed to determine if a patient's choice of conventional or alternative health care practitioner was related to total score on an instrument for scaling psychospiritual characteristics. DESIGN: A sequential convenience sample of patients attending five different health care practices in New England. SETTING: A family practitioner (FP) who uses CAM. (1) A FP clearly not identified with CAM. (3) A chiropractor. (4) A naturopath, and (5) A homeopath. OUTCOME MEASURES: Total scores on the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS), plus item scores of five separate questions and two factors. RESULTS: With 210 respondents, SIBS scores in Practice 2 were significantly lower than in practice 1 (p = 0.004), 3 (p = 0.001), 4 (p = 0.018), and 5 (p = 0.02). This pattern remained over the five question scores and two factors. CONCLUSION: Patients who chose a physician associated with CAM, or an alternative practitioner (chiropractor, naturopath, or homeopath) for their direct health care scored higher on a psychospiritual testing instrument (SIBS) than those who chose a conventional physician.
Subject(s)
Choice Behavior , Complementary Therapies/statistics & numerical data , Family Practice/statistics & numerical data , Physician-Patient Relations , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data , Spirituality , Adult , Complementary Therapies/standards , Family Practice/standards , Female , Health Behavior , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , New England , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/standards , Prospective Studies , Rural Population , Statistics, NonparametricABSTRACT
Valerian is a traditional herbal sleep remedy that has been studied with a variety of methodologic designs using multiple dosages and preparations. Research has focused on subjective evaluations of sleep patterns, particularly sleep latency, and study populations have primarily consisted of self-described poor sleepers. Valerian improves subjective experiences of sleep when taken nightly over one- to two-week periods, and it appears to be a safe sedative/hypnotic choice in patients with mild to moderate insomnia. The evidence for single-dose effect is contradictory. Valerian is also used in patients with mild anxiety, but the data supporting this indication are limited. Although the adverse effect profile and tolerability of this herb are excellent, long-term safety studies are lacking.
