Objectives: Assessing the extent to which general practitioners (GPs) accept complementary therapies as normal medical practice. Design: An examination of two Australian surveys of GPs undertaken in Tasmania and Victoria in 1997. Outcome Measures: Type of referral (to doctors or non-demidal therapists) and therapy. Levels of acceptance. Basis for judgement of acceptability. Results: In Tasmania 66% of Gps referred patients to doctors - primarily for acupuncture and hypnotherapy. Fifty-five per cent referred patients to non-medical practitioners - primarily for chiropractic, massage and osteopathy. In Victoria the rate of referral was 93%. Most GPs accepted acupuncture as a normal, but not orthodox, therapy. There are varying levels of acceptance of other complementary therapies and GPs judge by assessing safety and therapeutic value. Conclusion: Some complementary therapies are clearly part of normal, if not orthodox, practice in Australia. Discussion of complementary therapies in medicine must consider the differential levels of acceptance of different therapies. © 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Health Sciences
Research Group:	Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine
Research Field:	Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other health
Objective Field:	Other health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Easthope, G (Dr Gary Easthope)
UTAS Author:	Tranter, BK (Professor Bruce Tranter)
UTAS Author:	Gill, GF (Dr Gerard Gill)
ID Code:	19512
Year Published:	2000
Web of Science® Times Cited:	37
Deposited By:	Sociology and Social Work
Deposited On:	2000-08-01
Last Modified:	2001-05-09
Downloads:	0