Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine, Natural Health Products, and Medical Cannabis: Patient Preference and Prevalence of Use, Quality of Patient Health Information, and Safety and Effectiveness Concerns

Abstract

The thesis is comprised of three separate studies that each relate to one of the aforementioned therapy types: complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM), natural health products (NHPs), and medical cannabis. Parallels can be drawn across these therapy types in general including patient preference and prevalence of use, quality of patient health information, and safety and effectiveness concerns. Knowledge of these parallels both informed the development of these three studies and emerged across findings. Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive introduction to these parallels in the context of CAIM, NHPs, and medical cannabis. Chapter 2 comprises a cross-sectional survey determining NHP use disclosure to primary care physicians among patients attending a Canadian naturopathic clinic. Chapter 3 comprises a qualitative interview study identifying attitudes towards medical cannabis among family physicians practicing in Ontario, Canada. Chapter 4 comprises a sentiment analysis of Twitter data to understand how CAIM is mentioned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, chapter 5 serves as the conclusion of this thesis, and summarizes the most important findings, addresses study strengths and limitations, and discusses future directions from this work.