Study of Patient Satisfaction with Persian Medicine in Referrals to Behesht Persian Medicine Clinic of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2016

Abstract

Background: Today, complementary and alternative medicine and a variety of traditional medicine, along with conventional medicine, are used to prevent and treat diseases. In Iran, Persian medicine is taught academically and its services are being provided to patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the patient satisfaction with Persian medicine and the reasons for follow up or non-follow-up of treatment by patients referred to Behesht Persian medicine clinic of Iran university of Medical Sciences. Methods: 394 cases were selected among patients who were treated by Persian medicine in the Behesht clinic in 2016. After extracting the data, a semi structured questionnaire regarding the degree of satisfaction with the treatment and the reasons for follow up or non-follow up of the patients was completed by making phone calls with participants. Data were then analyzed using software (Microsoft Excel 2016). Results: Women were referred to the Persian medicine clinic more than men (72.5% versus 27.5%). The most common causes of referral were gastrointestinal diseases (15.1%) and musculoskeletal disorders (13.5%). 35% of the patients referred only once and did not follow the treatment. The most common causes of non-referral were the patient’s own lack of attention to taking medication and follow-up (24.2%), disease recovery (23%), lack of appropriate response to treatment (20.8%) and relocation of the therapist (11.6%). 91.4% of participants did not mention any complications and 95.84% were satisfied with the behavior of doctors. Overall, 82.6% of patients had a tendency to recurrent referral to the clinic. Conclusion: Despite the problems with referral of patients to the Persian medicine clinic, there is a high inclining rate that reflects the satisfaction of the treatment. Therefore, planning to solve existing problems and facilitating the referral of patients can increase the satisfaction rate of Persian medicine. More studies are needed in other Persian medicine centers to evaluate patients’ satisfaction.