Cad Saude Publica. 2010 Jan;26(1):7-13. doi: 10.1590/s0102-311x2010000100002.

[Complementary and Alternative Medicines: a meta-synthesis].

Cadernos de saude publica

[Article in Portuguese]
Cristiane Spadacio, Marcelo Eduardo Pfeiffer Castellanos, Nelson Filice de Barros, Sarah Monte Alegre, Philip Tovey, Alex Broom

PMID: 20209205 DOI: 10.1590/s0102-311x2010000100002

Abstract

The growing use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) has led to an increase in the number of qualitative studies on the subject, thus justifying a meta-synthesis of the resulting material. The current article presents a systematic review of qualitative studies on CAM published in international journals. The review was conducted according to the meta-synthesis methodology. A search was performed in journals through the Periodicals Periodical of CAPES, the National Agency for the Evaluation of Graduate Studies, and 32 articles were selected for analysis. The reviewed studies raise questions focusing on: patients, their therapeutic experiences, and their social and cultural contexts; professionals, professional relations, and the process of professionalization of CAM; and CAM and their relationship to biomedicine. The article concludes that qualitative studies on CAM call for an exploratory view of the theme, seeking to identify the experiences of patients and professionals with these therapies and discussing the impact of their use on conventional medicine or biomedicine.

MeSH terms

• Complementary Therapies*
• Humans
• Qualitative Research

Publication Types

• Journal Article
• Meta-Analysis
• Review
• Systematic Review