Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Complementary and alternative medicine

medical products and practices that are not part of standard medical care

standard medical care

treatment that is accepted by medical experts as a proper treatment for a certain type of disease and is widely used by healthcare professionals

evidence based medicine

combination of principles and methods

policies are based on the current best evidence

levels of evidence

1: systematic reviews and meta-analysis of randomized control trials (RCTs)

2: one or more RCTs

3: controlled trials

4: case control or cohort study

5: systematic review of descriptive and qualitative studies

6: single descriptive or qualitative study

7: expert opinion

randomized controlled trials

participants are randomly assigned to intervention or control groups

evenly distributes cofounders

controlled trials

participants are assigned to groups

more prone to selection bias

case control study

starts with outcomes and looks backward to investigate exposures

cohort study

starts with exposures and follows people over time to see who develops the outcome

meta analysis

review of data that contrasts and combines results from different but related studies - in attempt to find patterns and disagreements