The use of complementary and alternative medicine by women experiencing menopausal symptoms in Bologna

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study describes Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use amongst Italian women transitioning through menopause. Popularity and perceived effectiveness of CAM treatments, use of pharmaceutical medications, characteristics of CAM users, the extent of communication between medical practitioners and women about their use of CAM, and variables associated with CAM use were also investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Women, aged 45-65 years attending Family Planning and Women's Health clinics or Menopause Centres in Bologna were invited to complete a voluntary, anonymous, self administered questionnaire, which was used in a previous study in Sydney. The questionnaire was translated and adapted for use amongst Italian women. Data on general demographic and health characteristics, menopause related symptoms and the use of CAM and pharmaceutical treatments during the previous 12 months were collected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 1,203 women completed the survey, of which 1,106 were included in the final sample. Of women who had symptoms linked with menopause and/or used remedies to alleviate symptoms, 33.5% reported to have used CAM. Among these, 23.5% had consulted one or more practitioners and 24% had used at least one CAM product.</p> <p>Approximately nine out of ten respondents reported medical practitioners did not seek information about their use of CAM; while one third of CAM users did not disclose the use of CAM to their physician. Nevertheless, medical practitioners were the most popular source of information. From the multivariate analysis, variables associated with CAM use were: professional employment, time since the last natural menses, use of CAM for conditions other than menopause, and presence of some severe symptoms.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The relatively high prevalence of CAM use by women transitioning through menopause should encourage research initiatives into determining which CAM treatments are the safest and effective. The increasing and likely concomitant use of CAM with HRT and other pharmaceuticals underlines the need for the implementation of a surveillance system to report and monitor possible drug-herb adverse events. The discrepancy between women preferring to seek information about CAM from their medical doctor and the difficulties noted in communication between doctor and patient should encourage educational initiatives on CAM by health-care agencies and institutions.</p

Medical Students' Exposure to and Attitudes about the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of published studies reveals that undergraduate medical students may experience substantial exposure to pharmaceutical marketing, and that this contact may be associated with positive attitudes about marketing

MED6/357: Looking over the Horizon: An Internet-based International Course in Comparative Healthcare Management

INTRODUCTION: In 1998, the unique and experimental "Looking over the horizon - An Internet-based International Course in Comparative Healthcare Management" started. The course is a component of the larger project on "Promoting International Co-operation and Understanding in Healthcare Management". It is funded by the Canada-European Community Program for Co-operation in Higher Education and Training - a joint initiative between the Canadian Government and the European Commission. METHODS: The purpose of the course is to enable graduate students from participating countries - Canada, Germany, Finland, and Ireland - to become better healthcare managers by learning more about their own and each others' healthcare systems and management processes. The course is structured around an introductory module (Healthcare Systems) and four theme modules: Financing and Funding, Healthcare Delivery Issues, Impact of Health System Reform, and Evidence-based Management. The technology used for the delivery of the course is WebCT, a web-based distance learning software developed at the University of British Colombia. WebCT provides a large number of functions both for students - e.g., e-mail, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and calendar - and for instructors - e.g., student tracking, page tracking, chat room log files, and marking management. Instructors are able to design the whole course, receive students' assignments, and post their assessments, via the World Wide Web. RESULTS: From January to April 1999, 25 students participated in the second course (19 students in the first course in 1998). The tracking function of the WebCT system was used to get some data about the students' activities. In 15 weeks, the students read an average number of 585 (min. 137, max. 806) contributions -- i.e. the sometimes very profound messages posted by students and instructors --, whereas they posted 26 (min. 6, max. 67) own contributions. The high activity of students is a typical characteristic of this student-centred course. Students have the opportunity and responsibility to be both students and teachers for the others. The role of the instructor, however, changes from that of the source of knowledge to that of a supervisor. Therefore students themselves can significantly increase the quality of the course. DISCUSSION: So far, 44 students participated in the course. For all of them, it has been a valuable experience of learning, which both increased their knowledge of national and international management issues and improved their technical skills on the field of the new medium Internet. The possibility to provide international courses via the Internet gives a new dimension to world-wide medical education and should be used very intensively. For the part of "Looking over the Horizon", the course is planned to expand on more students and even more countries