Health & Digital Literacy and Complementary Medicine Attitudes in Rehabilitation Patients

July 21, 2025 updated by: METEHAN YANA, Karabuk University

Health Literacy in Relation to Attitudes Towards Traditional and Complementary Medicine Among Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Patients.

This observational study aims to evaluate the relationship between health and digital health literacy and attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients visiting a physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinic. Low health literacy may lead patients to try potentially unsafe herbal products influenced by commercial or social media sources. This study highlights the importance of understanding patients' attitudes toward such methods and aims to contribute to the development of educational efforts to improve health literacy. Increasing patients' awareness can support better decision-making, enhance rehabilitation outcomes, and promote the use of evidence-based practices in physical medicine clinics..

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

This observational, cross-sectional clinical study will be conducted in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic of Karabük Training and Research Hospital. The target population includes at least 200 volunteer patients aged between 18 and 65 years. The primary objective is to evaluate the level of general and digital health literacy and the attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and to investigate the relationship between these variables.

Participants will be recruited consecutively from the outpatient clinic. Inclusion criteria consist of being aged 18-65, literate, and volunteering to participate. Individuals who are unwilling or unable to cooperate, or who have cognitive or psychiatric impairments that may hinder questionnaire completion, will be excluded from the study.

Data will be collected through self-administered or interviewer-assisted questionnaires. The tools to be used are:

A structured sociodemographic data form (age, gender, education level, marital status, etc.),

Health Literacy Index (25 items), assessing general health literacy,

Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI) (18 items, 6 subscales), evaluating digital health-related skills,

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Attitude Scale (CAMAS) (27 items, 3 subscales), measuring participants' attitudes toward CAM.

Data will be analyzed using IBM SPSS software. Normality of data distribution will be assessed with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Depending on data characteristics, appropriate statistical tests such as Pearson or Spearman correlation, independent sample t-tests, and ANOVA will be applied. The study will also compare health and digital health literacy levels and CAM attitudes across different sociodemographic and clinical variables.

Findings from this study are expected to highlight gaps in patient knowledge and perceptions regarding CAM and digital health, potentially informing future educational strategies and supporting evidence-based clinical decision-making in rehabilitation settings.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
211

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
      • Karabük, Turkey, 78050
        • Karabuk Education and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult patients aged 18 to 65 years who are literate and voluntarily applying to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic of Karabük Training and Research Hospital. Participants must be able to provide informed consent and complete the required questionnaires.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • being aged 18-65
  • being literate
  • Volunteering to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are unwilling or unable to cooperate

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Patients of a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Complementary, Alternative, Conventional Medicine Attitude Scale (CACMAS)
Time Frame: Baseline

The CACMAS is a 27-item scale with three subscales: attitudes toward complementary, alternative, and conventional medicine.The scale uses a 7-point Likert-type rating system, with responses ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree).

Total Score Range: 27 to 189 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate a more positive attitude toward the use of CAM and conventional medical practices.
Baseline
Digital Health Literacy Instrument
Time Frame: Baseline
The scale consists of 18 items across 6 dimensions: Information Seeking, Evaluation of Reliability, Determining Interest Level, Content Addition, Navigation Skills, and Privacy Protection. Participants rated their experiences on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = Very difficult, 2 = Difficult, 3 = Easy, 4 = Very easy) for the subdimensions of Information Seeking, Evaluation of Reliability, Determining Interest Level, and Content Addition. For Navigation Skills and Privacy Protection, a reverse-coded 4-point Likert scale was used (1 = Never, 2 = Occasionally, 3 = Rarely, 4 = Frequently). The overall and subscale scores ranged from 1 to 4, with scores below 2 indicating low digital health literacy, scores between 2 and 3 indicating moderate digital health literacy, and scores above 3 indicating high digital health literacy.
Baseline
Health Literacy Scale
Time Frame: Baseline

The HLS-25 is a 25-item instrument adapted into Turkish by Aras and Temel (2017) based on the simplified version of the Health Literacy Survey in Europe (HLS-EU). It consists of four subscales: accessing information (5 items, score range: 5-25), understanding information (7 items, range: 7-35), appraising information (8 items, range: 8-40), and applying information (5 items, range: 5-25).

Total Score Range: 25 to 125 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better health literacy. All items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = cannot do at all to 5 = no difficulty). There are no reverse-coded items. Lower scores reflect inadequate or problematic health literacy.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Personal information form
Time Frame: Baseline
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Karabuk University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Chair: Metehan Yana, Karabuk University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 10, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 10, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 22, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 22, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 22, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 21, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • health literacy and CAM

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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