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Surveying Physicians' Attitudes about Herbal Supplements, Resources, and Pharmacy Consultations

Objective: To investigate whether physicians discuss herbal supplement use with their patients and document this information in the medical record, to determine the perceived barriers to discussing herbal supplement use, and to assess all resources currently available to physicians in their office setting and additional resources needed to answer questions about herbal supplements. Methods: An electronic survey was conducted of physicians enrolled in a managed care electronic network as of November 2002; data were collected from December 2002 through March 2003. Results: Of the 203 physicians who responded to the survey, 18% always discussed herbal supplements with their patients, 57% sometimes carried on these discussions, 21% rarely did, and 4% never asked. These responses correlated roughly with how often herbal supplement use was documented in the medical chart (always 27%, sometimes 51%, rarely 20%, never 2%). The strongest barriers to discussing herbal supplements were lack of resources and lack of time. The largest number of physicians used Web sites or print resources for information on herbal supplements. The most preferred resources were Web sites, computer databases, and pharmacy consultations. Conclusions: Awareness of herbal supplement use is vital for the healthcare practitioner to deliver comprehensive health services. Physicians' attitudes regarding herbal supplements are influenced by the resources available and by personal bias. Pharmacists can play a pivotal role in providing consultation services, educational materials, and screening for drug–herb interactions.