THE ATTITUDE OF GERMAN CARDIOVASCULAR PAT IENTS TOWARDS NON-MEDICALLYTRAINED PROVIDERS OF COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

The survey was aimed at evaluating the attitudes of patients towards t he German ''Heilpraktiker'' in particular and towards complementary me dicine in general, 251 patients with cardiovascular diseases completed a questionnaire, 3.7% of those living in the former West Germany and 1.5% living in the former East Germany had visited a ''Heilpraktiker'' in the previous year. The amount spent for ''natural drugs'' was on a verage small, The attitude of patients towards ''Heilpraktiker'' can b e described as positive/neutral. Only few patients knew that ''Heilpra ktiker'' had not necessarily been subjected to any medical training, A remarkable percentage of patients saw advantages in ''Heilpraktiker'' over physicians in that the former practised therapies that had less adverse effects and dedicated more time to the patient.