[Opinions of medical students about complementary therapies].

BACKGROUND: There is increasing national and worldwide interest on complementary therapies (CT).

AIM: To describe and analyze the opinions and interest about CT among medical students.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: An anonymous and voluntary survey with questions used in previous studies, was applied to students from first to fifth year.

RESULTS: The survey was answered by 526 medical students, corresponding to 86% of the target population. The students knew about an average of 4.7 therapies, out of 12 displayed. The better known therapy was acupuncture, followed by homeopathy and reiki, which raised the greater interest. The knowledge and interest was higher among women, who also had a more favorable opinion about CT. The interest decreases and the proportion of unfavorable opinions increases among students of upper level courses. Forty nine percent of respondents have used CT for themselves and 22% had no experience whatsoever with them.

CONCLUSIONS: In general, there is an appreciable knowledge, experience, interest and positive opinions toward CT. This favorable attitude is higher in women and decreases as career progresses. Medical students consider that they should have some approach to CT during their career.