Background: Complementary (or alternative) medicine has become a prevalent phenomenon in most industrialized countries. At present the evidence from randomized controlled trials investigating its effectiveness is fragmentary and therefore inconclusive.
Objective: To assess whether physicians perceive complementary medicine as useful and/or effective.
Method: A literature search was performed to retrieve all relevant articles. Twelve surveys addressing this question were found and analyzed by evaluating perceived usefulness and/or effectiveness.
Results: The results show a remarkable variability between surveys. On average physicians perceive complementary medicine as moderately effective--the rating was 46 +/- 18 on a scale of 0 to 100 points. Young physicians seem to judge complementary medicine more optimistically than their more seasoned colleagues. There is no trend to suggest that complementary medicine is increasingly perceived as useful and/or effective. The data do not answer the question whether physicians view complementary medicine as a nonspecific powerful placebo or as specifically effective.
Conclusion: Complementary medicine may be useful; however, the notion urgently needs to be tested in randomized controlled trials.