Determination of Health Services Vocational School Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes About Conventional and Complementary Medicine Practices: A Descriptive Study

Objective: The aim of this descriptive study is to determine the knowledge and attitudes of the health services vocational school students about conventional and complementary medicine practices (CCMP). Material and Methods: The study included students from Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Mehmet Tanrıkulu Vocational School of Health Services. The data were collected online between November-December 2021 through the socio-demographic data form, Complementary, Alternative, Conventional Medicine Attitude Scale (CACMAS), and the CCMP information form. Results: The mean CACMAS score of the students (111.60±13.77) was found to be high. In general, knowledge level of students about CCMP practices are insufficient. The most and the least known CCMP methods among students are hypnosis (76.9%) and prolotherapy (88.3%), respectively. The philosophical congruence with complementary and alternative medicine in female students were higher than male (p=0.019). Dissatisfaction of second grade students with conventional medicine was found to be more than first grade students (p=0.005). The mean scores of the scale (p=0.002), philosophical congruence with complementary and alternative medicine (p=0.026) and the holistic balance sub-scales (p=0.024) of the students who used CCMP were found to be higher than the others. A very weak positive correlation was found between the age of the students and the scale mean score (r=0.15; p<0.01). On the other hand, a weak positive correlation was found between the age of students and dissatisfaction with conventional medicine mean score (r=0.25; p<0.01). Conclusion: Health services vocational school students have positive attitudes towards CCMP, but their level of knowledge is insufficient.