During the last decades, there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of a potentially dangerous phenomenon for the public health: pseudoscience. It can be defined as the set of false knowledge that attempts to resemble science even though it is not. Nowadays there are many who opt for these therapies not scientifically endorsed to solve their health problems. This situation is increased for risk patients or chronic diseases, who come to this type of therapies as a last resort. In these cases, the choice between science and pseudoscience can become a matter of life or death. Through qualitative and quantitative research techniques, we analyze the reasons why patients choose pseudoscience instead of conventional and scientific medicine. The data obtained from this research reveal that in extreme situations patients value most the human contact with the therapist that the validity of the therapy itself. This factor, coupled with the precariousness of the health system, generates a dynamic in which pseudosciences gain ground over scientific medicine. According to the experts interviewed, this phenomenon is increasing and may represent a danger to public health. This research reveals the possible causes and consequences of this phenomenon from the point of view of more than 60 professionals of the Spanish scientific community and 30 patients who have used both disciplines. The results obtained indicate that this situation is intensified due to the inaction of the competent institutions and the lack of regulation.
Introducción: Las pseudociencias utilizan herramientas discursivas falaces para inmiscuirse en la sociedad. Estudios recientes investigan a diferentes colectivos profesionales para identificar, caracterizar y subvertir estos discursos. Objetivo: Analizar la percepción de las pseudociencias en el colectivo médico español. Método: Se usó una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas en profundidad. Los datos se analizaron mediante un modelo de análisis inductivo con la intención de identificar los patrones comunes presentes en las entrevistas. Resultados: Los entrevistados definieron las pseudociencias como manifestaciones carentes de método científico y que derivan de la autoridad de un supuesto especialista. Se muestran reticentes ante su uso. La connotación espiritual de las pseudociencias, junto con la instrumentalización del efecto placebo, su disfraz de natural e innocuo, y el acompañamiento emocional se identificaron como las causas principales de su expansión. Conclusiones: 1) para la prevención de las pseudociencias debe contarse con el apoyo coordinado de las autoridades sanitarias; 2) la precarización de los servicios asistenciales puede ser una de las causas de su expansión; 3) en el contexto de la posverdad, los argumentos emocionales o espirituales adquieren una mayor autoridad que los científicos, causando una pérdida de confianza en el marco epistemológico científico.
During the last decades, there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of a potentially dangerous phenomenon for the public health: pseudoscience. It can be defined as the set of false knowledge that attempts to resemble science even though it is not. Nowadays there are many who opt for these therapies not scientifically endorsed to solve their health problems. This situation is increased for risk patients or chronic diseases, who come to this type of therapies as a last resort. In these cases, the choice between science and pseudoscience can become a matter of life or death. Through qualitative and quantitative research techniques, we analyze the reasons why patients choose pseudoscience instead of conventional and scientific medicine. The data obtained from this research reveal that in extreme situations patients value most the human contact with the therapist that the validity of the therapy itself. This factor, coupled with the precariousness of the health system, generates a dynamic in which pseudosciences gain ground over scientific medicine. According to the experts interviewed, this phenomenon is increasing and may represent a danger to public health. This research reveals the possible causes and consequences of this phenomenon from the point of view of more than 60 professionals of the Spanish scientific community and 30 patients who have used both disciplines. The results obtained indicate that this situation is intensified due to the inaction of the competent institutions and the lack of regulation.
During the last decades, there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of a potentially dangerous phenomenon for the public health: pseudoscience. It can be defined as the set of false knowledge that attempts to resemble science even though it is not. Nowadays there are many who opt for these therapies not scientifically endorsed to solve their health problems. This situation is increased for risk patients or chronic diseases, who come to this type of therapies as a last resort. In these cases, the choice between science and pseudoscience can become a matter of life or death. Through qualitative and quantitative research techniques, we analyze the reasons why patients choose pseudoscience instead of conventional and scientific medicine. The data obtained from this research reveal that in extreme situations patients value most the human contact with the therapist that the validity of the therapy itself. This factor, coupled with the precariousness of the health system, generates a dynamic in which pseudosciences gain ground over scientific medicine. According to the experts interviewed, this phenomenon is increasing and may represent a danger to public health. This research reveals the possible causes and consequences of this phenomenon from the point of view of more than 60 professionals of the Spanish scientific community and 30 patients who have used both disciplines. The results obtained indicate that this situation is intensified due to the inaction of the competent institutions and the lack of regulation.
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