Liz Roffe1 BSc (Hons), Katja Schmidt2 BSc (Hons), MSc, C Psychol, Edzard Ernst2 MD, PhD, FRCP, FRCP, Ed
1 School of Nursing and Midwifery
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
S017 1BJ
2Complementary Medicine
Peninsula Medical School
Universities of Exeter & Plymouth
Institute of Health & Social Care
25 Victoria Park Road
Exeter EX2 4NT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1392 424839
Fax: +44 (0) 1392 427562
E-mail: katja.schmidt@pms.ac.uk
Abstract
Objective: To assess whether the use of the 10 most frequently recommended CAM therapies for cancer was supported by the experiences of UK, USA and Canadian practitioners of naturopathic medicine.
Design: An e-mail survey was carried out, in which practitioners were sent an introductory email, and a survey consisting of 3 questions.
Participants: All practitioners of naturopathic medicine with an email address registered on one of 3 websites of naturopathic medicine organisations were contacted (n = 1028).
Results: We received a total of 32 responses (response rate = 3.1%). The very low response rate made it impossible to analyse the data in any meaningful way.
Conclusion: The low response rates to this survey highlight a need to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners. Increased collaboration is required to overcome the problems identified in this report.
Key words: naturopathic medicine, e-mail survey, response rate