Abstract

Introduction: Few studies are available on complementary medicine used in the Middle East and particularly from Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of using traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) by people in Kashan, Iran, in 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 541 subjects that through cluster sampling were selected from the general population of Kashan, Iran. The participants answered a questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and application of T&CM. Descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test were used to analyze the data. Results: Of the 541 subjects, 56.9 were male. In general, 73.75 had a history of using T&CM methods, 66.54 reported that using T&CM was effective in improving their diseases and also 42.14 had recommended T&CM to others. Respectively, 38.6 and 9.6 of the subjects have frequently used herbs and cupping. Moreover, 52.7 of them believed that herbs were very effective in the treatment of their health problems. T&CM methods were mostly used in headaches and dizziness (20), common cold (19) and digestive problems (17). Conclusions: T&CM was prevalent among the participants and herbal products were the most common. Due to the people's enthusiasm toward T&CM, measures and policies must be implemented promptly to increase the public awareness and endorse the appropriate use of T&CM. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.