Although modern treatments have achieved much progress in blood sugar control in recent decades, evidences indicate that complementary and alternative treatments are very common in diabetic patients. The present study aims to investigate application of complementary and traditional medicines among diabetic patients in Iran in 2016. This was a cross-sectional study done on 294 diabetic patients who were referred to the diabetes clinic and were chosen using convenient sampling. Data were gathered using a demographic characteristics form and a researcher-made questionnaire (for studying application and satisfaction of using some of the complementary and alternative medicines). A total of 88.4% of diabetic patients have used at least one complementary and alternative treatment in the past year. The most common treatment was medicinal plants, which were used by 84.9% of the participants. Sixty-nine percent of the patients were satisfied with using complementary and traditional treatments. This study showed that diabetic patients are very interested in using complementary and alternative medicine.

Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicines is increasing specially in patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, based on the high prevalence of chronic disorders, the present study aimed to determine complementary and alternative medicine usage frequency and its determinant factors. This was a cross-sectional study. Five hundred clients participated in the study by using convenience sampling. A 2-part questionnaire (including demographic form and researcher-created questionnaire) was used for studying the prevalence of using complementary and alternative medicine methods, and users' satisfaction. Findings showed that 75.4% of people used at least one complementary and alternative medicine method. Most of users consumed medicinal plants (69.4%). The most common reason of using a complementary and alternative medicine method was common cold (32.9%). The highest satisfaction belonged to massage (2.94 ± 0.74). The usage of complementary and alternative medicine was 3.22 times higher in people with academic educations when compared with illiterate people. Concerning the high usage of complementary and alternative medicine, it is necessary to train specialists in this field in order to offer such treatments in a safe manner. Also, outcomes of application of complementary and alternative medicine methods should be studied.

Background: in recent years, medicinal plants have been increasingly paid attention to and many studies have been done on this regard. Therefore, a health care provider especially nurses should know the increasing models of such treatment for a holistic care. The aim of present study was to investigate prevalence of using medicinal plants, causes of using it and users' satisfaction among outpatients in Kerman, Iran.Method: this was a descriptive-analytic study. 288 subjects participated in the study using convenience sampling method. To collect the information, a demographic form and a researcher-made questionnaire for studying the usage of medicinal plants, clinical complaints leading to using this treatment and satisfaction of the user, was used. The questionnaire had sufficient validity and reliability.Results: prevalence of using medicinal plants was 77.4% in previous year. The most common clinical symptoms leading to using this treatment were common cold (31.8%) and migraine (9.9%). The highest frequency related to the satisfaction items belonged to the item "safety of medicinal plants" (93.3%).Conclusion: this study showed that the usage of medicinal plants is very common among outpatients and the belief about the safety of medicinal plants has been the most important therapeutic outcome resulting in more satisfaction of users.

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