SEMA NUR DURSUN, KÜBRA YILMAZ, MUSTAFA KAYA
International Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research - 2025;6(1):11-21
Objective: Traditional and complementary medicine has started to gain more place in health services in recent years. The increase in its use makes it necessary to have information about its use. In this study, the relationship between health literacy and attitudes towards traditional and complementary medicine of prospective health undergraduates was examined. Material-Method: In this cross-sectional study, health literacy levels of prospective health undergraduates, their attitudes towards TCM and the relationship between them were examined. A questionnaire was administered to students who were selected by stratified sampling method from students studying in six different departments of Kırıkkale University Faculty of Health Sciences. The questionnaires were analyzed. Results: The study included 331 students. Most of the participating students were female (88.5%). The highest score on the health literacy scale was obtained by students from the Department of Social Work and the highest score on the TCM scale was obtained by nursing students. The students who participated in the study had a low level of education about TCM (5.7%), use of TCM products (19%) and a negative attitude towards TCM products (6.3%). There is a significant positive correlation between the scores obtained from the health literacy scale and the scores obtained from the attitude towards traditional and complementary medicine scale. However, this correlation is at a low level (r=.110, p<.05). Conclusion: It was found that the number of health license candidates who received training related to TCM was low. It is thought that it would be beneficial to increase health literacy and knowledge about TCM in order for TCM products and methods, whose use has increased due to their inclusion in payment lists, to be beneficial for health.
