According to (Kemppainen et al., 2018), Complementary and alternative medicine pertains to using external products of conventional medicine. Some factors led to the use of these alternative medicines: social, economic, and political factors. Some of the social aspects are education, highly educated people have exposure to information, and they can access complementary and alternative medicine compared to those who are less educated. The second social factor is age; older adults have access to complementary and alternative treatments because, since their childhood, they have been exposed to the use of herbal drugs for their well-being compared to the young generation who are highly exposed to conventional medicine. Other factors include gender, ethnicity, and harmlessness of the product.
One of the Economic Factors that affect complementary and alternative medicine is income; most of the population in the states have higher incomes, and this helps them to be able to access the alternative medicine, be it pharmaceuticals, therapists or massage. However, political factors also led to the growth of alternative medicines; some of these factors include: government regulation, the alternative medicines are sold in the market with no restrictions, and the government has provided licensing of the companies selling alternative medicines (Jose et al., 2007) suggests.
Patients use this alternative medicine repeatedly, basically, patients with higher social-economic status and those who have conditions such as chronic health state. With many patients using Complementary and Alternative Medicine, health practitioners should be informed about these practices to know if the recommended alternative medicine, like herbal supplements, has any side effects with the currently prescribed medications.
References.
1. Kemppainen, L. M., Kemppainen, T. T., Reippainen, J. A., Salmenniemi, S. T., & Vuolanto, P. H. (2018). Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Europe: Health-related and sociodemographic determinants. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 46(4), 448–455.
2. Jose V M, Bhalla A, Sharma N, Hota D, Sivaprasad S, Pandhi p. Study os association between use of complementary and alternative medicine and non-compliance with modern medicine in patients presenting to the emergency department, J Postgrad Med 2007-53-96-101.
