Objective: To find the frequency and determinants of patients preferring complementary and alternative medicine over registered medical doctors..
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Services Hospital, Mayo Hospital and Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, from June 8 to August 20, 2017.A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. .
Results: Of the 385 subjects, 200(51.9%) had visited at least one complementary and alternative medicine healer in their life. Besides, 166(83%) subjects confirmed positive outcome of such therapies. When asked about reasons behind their choice,227(59%)subjects mentioned cost effectiveness, 99(25.7%) better understanding, 131(34%) guidance about disease by such healers, 198(51.4%) harmless therapies, 198(51.4%) natural ingredients of medicines, 154(40%) accessibility, 161(41.8%) psychological satisfaction, 221(57.4%) said fewer appointments, 222(57.7%) said diagnosis without laboratory tests, 131(34%)family influence, 52(13.5%) had surgical fears, 101(26.2%) said faith in spiritual exercises, 63(16.4%) were addicted to complementary and alternative medicine products, 122(31.7%) said better communication) while183(47.5%) said sparing more time for consultation.
Conclusions: There were a variety of beliefs and reasons behind patients preferring complementary and alternative medicine providers over medical doctors.
Keywords: Complementary and alternative medicine, Patient's preferences, Health beliefs models.