Influence of the Global Health Crisis on Health Behaviour and Adoption of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Strany: 103 - 123

Jazyk: eng

Various studies indicate that the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in European nations has either shown an upward trend or remained stable in recent years. Representing a significant global health crisis, COVID-19 has increased the urgency of monitoring the use of various CAM modalities. Some sociological perspectives on the use of CAM in Slovakia reveal that perceptions of CAM in Slovakia have undergone different stages. Our objective was to analyse the patterns and changes in CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) usage among the Slovakian population from 2019 to 2023. Therefore, we replicated a similar survey from the year 2019 to the year 2023. In 2019, 82.4% of the participants, totalling 846 (N = 1027) individuals, reported regular use of a certain type of CAM. By contrast, in 2023, the figure rose to 90.3%, with 916 (N = 1014) respondents indicating regular CAM usage. The whole medical system (WMS) was identified as the CAM subgroup with the highest growth in users. The use of CAM is now regarded as a mainstream and normalized approach to addressing health-related concerns and is no longer considered uncommon or marginalized.

ISO 690:

Hofreiter, R., Souček, I. 2025. Influence of the Global Health Crisis on Health Behaviour and Adoption of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. In Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, vol. 57, no.2, pp. 103-123. 0049-1225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.2.4

APA:

Hofreiter, R., Souček, I. (2025). Influence of the Global Health Crisis on Health Behaviour and Adoption of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, 57(2), 103-123. 0049-1225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.2.4

Vydavateľ: The Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences