Patients' choice of asthma and allergy treatments

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Only a few studies have focused on a comparison between general practitioner (GP) patients' and classical homeopath (CH) patients' reasons for choosing, continuing or termination of their treatment by GPs or CHs, respectively. The existing studies are mostly based on quantitative methods and dealing with patients' reasons for choosing complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The objective of this paper is to develop concepts to understand and compare Danish GP patients' and CH patients' initial choice of, continuing choice of, and termination of treatments for asthma and allergy. DESIGN: Data originate from an explorative study based on semistructured interviews with 18 GP patients and CH patients having asthma and allergy. The selection of the patients to the interviews was based on a questionnaire study including 88 respondents (response rate 58 patients). RESULTS: In understanding the patients' initial choice and continuing choice of treatment and termination of treatment, the concepts push-from, pull, press-into, stop, and stay factors are used. These factors are connected to the patients' experiences with conventional treatment, patients' attitudes toward and personal experiences with alternative treatment, and the patients' understanding of their asthma and allergy. The results of the study indicate that patients before seeking CHs had experienced inappropriate health care within the conventional health care system. The results of the study also indicate that if the CH patients experience inappropriate health care within homeopathic treatment, they terminate the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates the importance of health providers' insight into GP patients' and CH patients' different reflections on adverse events, the patients' different understandings of asthma and allergy, and the different learning processes that GP patients and CH patients might be involved in while living with asthma and allergy. These are important issues for understanding patients' initial and, continuing choice of and termination of GP treatment and CH treatment, respectively.