Complementary Medicine Use and Perceptions of It in Victoria, Australia: A Statewide Cross-Sectional Survey.
Background/Objectives: Complementary medicines (CMs) are widely used in Australia, yet consumer beliefs about their safety and effectiveness often diverge from the scientific evidence. Contemporary statewide data from Victoria, particularly about these perceptions and underlying perception profiles,...
| Publicado en: | Nutrients Vol. 18; no. 7; pp. 1077 - 1097 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
MDPI
Apr2026
|
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=192958901&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 192958901 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 20726643 B0TT jtl: Nutrients issn: 20726643 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 18 iid: 7 pid: 97109 pub: MDPI artinfo: ui: 192958901 192958901 192958901 10.3390/nu18071077 192958901 ppf: 1077 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Complementary Medicine Use and Perceptions of It in Victoria, Australia: A Statewide Cross-Sectional Survey. aug: au: Naseri, Kaveh Shahin, Wejdan Allahham, Ayman Bilal, Hajira de Courten, Barbora Thrimawithana, Thilini R. affil: School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia sug: subj: Alternative Therapies Psychosocial Factors Alternative Therapies Utilization Health Beliefs Evaluation Sociodemographic Factors Evaluation Victoria Human Male Female Adult Cross Sectional Studies Descriptive Statistics Nonprobability Sample Purposive Sample Pilot Studies Pearson's Correlation Coefficient Chi Square Test Fisher's Exact Test Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient Logistic Regression Exploratory Research Data Analysis Software Treatment Duration Drug Efficacy Evaluation Patient Safety Evaluation Alternative Therapies Classification Adverse Drug Event Professional Role Professional-Patient Relations Product Acquisition Odds Ratio Confidence Intervals Adult: 19-44 years Male Female ab: Background/Objectives: Complementary medicines (CMs) are widely used in Australia, yet consumer beliefs about their safety and effectiveness often diverge from the scientific evidence. Contemporary statewide data from Victoria, particularly about these perceptions and underlying perception profiles, are limited. We therefore aimed to characterise CM use patterns and perceptions of it among Victorian adults and identify the demographic and use-related belief patterns. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in metropolitan and regional Victoria (November 2024–August 2025) among adults (≥18 years) who had used complementary medicines in the previous 12 months (N = 447). The questionnaire assessed CM use patterns, perceived effectiveness, safety, quality, perceived risk relative to prescription medicines, adverse events, and demographics. The analyses included descriptive statistics, χ2 tests with multiple-comparison control, Spearman correlations, and a multivariable regression. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and latent class analysis (LCA) were used to identify the perception dimensions and distinct consumer profiles. Results: CM use was frequent (62.2% daily; 19.2% weekly) and often long term (>1 year, 55.0%). The most commonly used products were vitamin D (53.0%), multivitamins (39.8%), magnesium (34.5%), iron (33.8%), and vitamin C (30.0%). The perceptions were favourable: 77.3% rated CMs as effective, 90.4% as safe, and 60.3% as high quality; 78.5% perceived CMs to have lower side-effect risks than prescription medicines. Adverse events were reported by 12.3%. In the adjusted models, adults ≥ 65 years and monthly/occasional users were less likely to endorse "lower risk than prescription medicines" (aOR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.06–0.51; aOR: 0.36, 0.18–0.72). East Asian respondents had lower odds of endorsing CM effectiveness than Caucasian/White respondents (aOR: 0.28, 0.11–0.72). Their perceived quality was higher among men (aOR: 1.73, 1.09–2.74) and adults aged 55–65 years (aOR: 3.81, 1.39–10.48). Conclusions: In this contemporary statewide Victorian sample, CM use was common and generally viewed positively, yet the comparative risk may be underestimated. Profiling perception patterns and identifying belief patterns by age, culture, and use intensity provides actionable targets for clinician/pharmacist counselling and culturally tailored education to support safer, evidence-aligned CM use. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|