KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN IMAM ABDULRAHMAN BIN FAISAL UNIVERSITY, DAMMAM, KSA 2019

Background: Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) has been outlined as a ‘cluster of numerous medical and health care systems, practices and merchandise thataren’t presently thought of to be a part of conventional medicine.’ In the last decade, there has been a global upsurge in the use of CAM in both developed and developing countries. Methods: The study included medical students in imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University in Dammam 2019. The self-administered survey was adapted from previous studies. SPSS was used to analyse data. Results: The total number of respondents was 344 students of them 42.8% were males and 57.2% were females. About 18% of the respondents agreed (or strongly agreed) that CAM is a risk to public health, while 47% disagreed (or strongly disagreed) to this statement. More than 60% of the respondents agreed that CAM and modern medicine should be integrated. Significant positive association between age and perception of CAM as a risk to public health (p=0.004). Conclusion: We found that most of the students exhibited confidence in CAM not being a threat to the public health. Significant association could be noted between the age, academic year of students, and their acceptance of CAM as a safe option for public health. Students were likely to accept and promote CAM originating from religious background.