Academic education in health profession programs, knowledge and use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by university students

Objectives: To assess the association of academic education in health professions programs with the knowledge and use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by university students and to determine whether CAM can promote a healthy university environment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 512 university students enrolled in health professions programs in the city of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, from April to November 2017. The Assessment Tool for Health Promotion at the University was used to collect sociodemographic, academic and CAM data. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed considering the outcomes "knowledge of CAM" and "CAM in the promotion of a healthy university environment" using SPSS Statistic version 20.0. Results: Data from 512 participants were analyzed. Women (n = 357; 69.7%), young students (n = 393; 76.8%) and unemployed students (n = 429; 83.8%) predominated. Knowledge of CAM was associated with health profession program (OR = 0.934; p = 0.047), paternal education (OR = 0.641; p = 0.024), employment (OR = 0.542; p = 0.028) and participation in extracurricular activities (OR = 1.275; p = 0.007). There was a proportional difference between knowledge and use of CAM ranging from 2:1 to 11:1 among the 21 modalities. University students believed that CAM could promote a healthy university environment (p = 0.000), which was influenced by gender (OR = 2.089; p = 0.004) and knowledge of CAM (OR = 16.601; p = 0.000). Conclusions: University students' knowledge of CAM was influenced by the health profession program, paternal education, employment and participation in extracurricular activities. The percentage of use of CAM modalities was lower than the percentage of knowledge. University students' belief that CAM could foster a healthy university environment is influenced by gender and knowledge of CAM.