Physician-patient communication about complementary and alternative medical therapies: A survey of physicians caring for patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

Objective: To examine frequency and correlates of physicians' reports of di scussions with patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) about compl ementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies. Design: Mailed physician survey. Setting: The setting was Eastern Massachusetts. Participants: Participants included 89 physicians caring for patients with HIV. Measurements and Main Results: Physicians were asked how common the use of CAM therapies was among their patients,:how useful these therapies were, ho w often they discussed the use of CAM therapies with new and follow-up pati ents, and whether they had used a CAM therapy themselves in the last year. We also collected information on physicians' sociodemographic and practice characteristics. Sixty-eight percent (89/130) of physicians responded, and 26% and 5% reported discussing CAM therapies with HIV-infected patients at most new and follow-zip visits, respectively. Respondents' attitudes toward the use of CAM therapies were generally positive, and they believed their HIV-infected patients used CAM therapies more than their non-HIV infected p atients. The majority (63%) believed that CAM therapies may be helpful for HIV-infected patients. Thirty-six percent (36%) had used a CAM therapy them selves in the last year. In multivariate analyses, only the belief that CAM therapies are helpful was correlated with discussion of CAM therapies (p = 0.006). Respondents' demographic characteristics, training, personal use o f CAM therapies, reported visit length, and satisfaction with visit length were not associated with discussion of CAM therapies. Conclusions: Despite awareness that their HIV-infected patients commonly us e CAM therapies and positive attitudes towards such therapies, most of thes e physicians did not routinely discuss CAM therapies with them. Barriers to physician-patient communication about CAM therapies merit further investig ation.