Naturopaths’ behaviours, attitudes and perceptions towards the use of knowledge and information sources

Abstract

Background Primary care professions practicing traditional medicine systems, such as naturopathy, may have an increased need to use critical thinking to integrated diverse knowledge sources in response to the complex ‘messiness’ of clinical practice. The degree to which the varied knowledge types used by naturopathic practitioners align with evidence-based practice principles remains unexplored. Aims and objectives To investigate naturopathic practitioners’ behaviours, perceptions and attitudes towards their use of knowledge and information sources. Methods An online cross-sectional survey study administered in five languages to the international naturopathic profession. Descriptive statistics were prepared using Stata 16.1. Findings Survey respondents (n=453) represented all world regions. The most common type of knowledge used to inform clinical practice was developed through clinical experience (86.2%) or during initial clinical training (81.2%). The most used information sources were scientific journals (80.4%), conferences or other professional events (78.2%), modern naturopathic clinical textbooks (74.6%), laboratory, pathology or radiology tests (74.0%), or professional journals for clinicians (73.5%). The greatest trust in knowledge acquired from information sources was attributed to information from laboratory, pathology or radiology tests. The greatest importance was placed on information based on the patient’s perspective of living with their health condition. Discussion and conclusions Naturopathic practitioners do not appear to have a strong level of trust for any particular information source, despite variations in trust between sources. Further, their philosophies and principles may promote the importance naturopathic practitioners place on non-research information sources such as patient experience and add further complexity to clinical decision-making processes for naturopathic practitioners.