The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition
The definition of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM) remains dynamic and complex despite a steady increase in the popularity/usage of CAIM therapies across the globe. A lack of consistency in how these terms are defined remains a challenge for researchers, clinicians, and na...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Integrative Medicine Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422023000574 |
| _version_ | 1797653626282311680 |
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| author | Jeremy Y. Ng Tushar Dhawan Renee-Gabrielle Fajardo Hooriya A. Masood Samira Sunderji L. Susan Wieland David Moher |
| author_facet | Jeremy Y. Ng Tushar Dhawan Renee-Gabrielle Fajardo Hooriya A. Masood Samira Sunderji L. Susan Wieland David Moher |
| author_sort | Jeremy Y. Ng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The definition of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM) remains dynamic and complex despite a steady increase in the popularity/usage of CAIM therapies across the globe. A lack of consistency in how these terms are defined remains a challenge for researchers, clinicians, and national and international organizations (e.g., World Health Organization, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) alike. In the present article, we provide a brief history of the use of these terminologies, and then outline the process we took to develop and create an operational definition of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine. Our operational definition is the first to be informed by a systematic search of four quality-assessed information resource types, ultimately yielding 604 unique CAIM therapies. We then developed a single search string for the most common bibliographic databases using the finalized operational definition list of CAIM therapies. These CAIM therapies were searched against the Therapeutic Research Center's “Natural Medicines” database for all 604 therapies, whereby each item's scientific name and/or synonym was included as a keyword or phrase in the search string. While the current definition is not without limitations and ongoing debates still surround the field, this work is arguably a steppingstone towards enabling increased collaboration and communication amongst healthcare clinicians, researchers, and the public. This operational definition provides a foundation for developing well-coordinated research efforts that will assist in the acceptance and understanding of this field, while also focusing on adopting knowledge translation techniques and efforts for further research advancement and use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T16:47:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81244c3dde444b6d92bd72aaf2c9d7f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2213-4220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T16:47:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Integrative Medicine Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-81244c3dde444b6d92bd72aaf2c9d7f42023-10-22T04:49:03ZengElsevierIntegrative Medicine Research2213-42202023-12-01124100978The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational DefinitionJeremy Y. Ng0Tushar Dhawan1Renee-Gabrielle Fajardo2Hooriya A. Masood3Samira Sunderji4L. Susan Wieland5David Moher6Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Corresponding author at: The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Centre for Practice Changing Research Building, 501 Smyth Road, PO BOX 201B, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada.Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaCenter for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United StatesCentre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaThe definition of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM) remains dynamic and complex despite a steady increase in the popularity/usage of CAIM therapies across the globe. A lack of consistency in how these terms are defined remains a challenge for researchers, clinicians, and national and international organizations (e.g., World Health Organization, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) alike. In the present article, we provide a brief history of the use of these terminologies, and then outline the process we took to develop and create an operational definition of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine. Our operational definition is the first to be informed by a systematic search of four quality-assessed information resource types, ultimately yielding 604 unique CAIM therapies. We then developed a single search string for the most common bibliographic databases using the finalized operational definition list of CAIM therapies. These CAIM therapies were searched against the Therapeutic Research Center's “Natural Medicines” database for all 604 therapies, whereby each item's scientific name and/or synonym was included as a keyword or phrase in the search string. While the current definition is not without limitations and ongoing debates still surround the field, this work is arguably a steppingstone towards enabling increased collaboration and communication amongst healthcare clinicians, researchers, and the public. This operational definition provides a foundation for developing well-coordinated research efforts that will assist in the acceptance and understanding of this field, while also focusing on adopting knowledge translation techniques and efforts for further research advancement and use.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422023000574Complementary and alternative medicineIntegrative medicineOperational definitionStandard of classificationBibliographic database |
| spellingShingle | Jeremy Y. Ng Tushar Dhawan Renee-Gabrielle Fajardo Hooriya A. Masood Samira Sunderji L. Susan Wieland David Moher The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition Integrative Medicine Research Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Operational definition Standard of classification Bibliographic database |
| title | The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition |
| title_full | The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition |
| title_fullStr | The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition |
| title_short | The Brief History of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Terminology and the Development and Creation of an Operational Definition |
| title_sort | brief history of complementary alternative and integrative medicine terminology and the development and creation of an operational definition |
| topic | Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Operational definition Standard of classification Bibliographic database |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422023000574 |
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