Our Research:

Objective  To determine whether existing psychological scales of holistic health are sensitive to change following CAM treatment.
Design A study investigating change on several outcome measures over a 4 month period during CAM treatment.  Patients attending the Centre for Complementary and Integrated Medicine (CCIM, Southampton, UK) for their first appointment were recruited and completed their baseline forms (T1) at the first consultation. Three further sets of questionnaires (T2, T3 and T4) were posted with SAE to them at monthly intervals and returned to CCIM.
Patients and location People visiting the CCIM and treated with an individualised combination of homeopathy, dietary advice and nutritional supplements for treatment of their chronic benign illness.
Outcome The measures were: (a) symptoms (Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile: MYMOP), (b) mood (Positive And Negative Affect Scale; PANAS) and (c) Brief Sense Of Coherence (BASOC).
Results Forty-five patients were recruited and 40 completed the study; MYMOP (p = .001), PANAS negative (p = .025) and BASOC (p = .019) all showed similar patterns of significant improvement over time; PANAS positive showed a non significant trend for improvement (p = .074).  Change on one scale was correlated with change on other scales.
Conclusion Existing psychology scales of holistic health are sensitive to change following CAM treatment.

Many patients seek help from practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Patients’ prior knowledge of CAM and desire for egalitarian relationships with medical practitioners have been shown to increase CAM use, as have higher scores on the Absorption scale (a measure of anxiety and "self-absorption"). Other personality scales do not predict CAM use.
Although users of CAM might not agree, a common view among scientists is that CAM outcomes are mediated through a placebo effect; that is, patients improve because they expect to do so. Our aims in the study described here were to assess the validity of the Attitudes toward Alternative Medicine Scale (AAMS) and to determine whether asthmatic patients who had positive attitudes toward and beliefs about CAM showed greater positive changes in outcomes.

We have developed an 11-item scale, the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (HCAMQ). Six of the HCAMQ items relate to beliefs about the scientific validity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and five to beliefs about holistic health (HH). The HCAMQ was completed by 50 patients attending a CAM clinic and 50 attending rheumatology outpatients; the former completed it twice. Factor analysis (oblique rotation) showed that the CAM and HH items measured distinct but related constructs. The HCAMQ has good test retest reliability (r = 0.86, 0.82 and 0.77 for the total, CAM subscale and HH subscale, respectively). The individuals attending CAM clinics were significantly more positive on the CAM but not the HH subscale of the HCAMQ and also used less antibiotics than those attending rheumatology outpatients. Positivity towards CAM on the total HCAMQ and subscales was significantly associated with lower age, increased vitamin use, reduced painkiller use, and, other than on the HH subscale, less antibiotic use. The reason why the HH subscale failed to distinguish between the two patient groups or predict less antibiotic use is unknown. The HCAMQ appears to have good internal validity, but its external validity remains to be established.

Objectives  The study aimed to develop a comprehensive generic measure of treatment beliefs, the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Beliefs Inventory (CAMBI), and to identify distinct dimensions of CAM-related beliefs.
Methods  The CAMBI and other measures were presented and advertised online. 
Results  328 completed questionnaires were received.  Factor analysis indicated three dimensions of beliefs could be identified.  Subscales of the CAMBI were developed measuring beliefs in natural treatment, participation in treatment and holistic health.  The subscales all had satisfactory reliability and were significantly correlated with CAM use (Spearman’s rho = .18, .47 and .22 for natural treatments, holistic health and participation in treatment respectively).
Conclusions  The CAMBI measures three distinct dimensions of treatment beliefs, all of which are related to CAM use.