What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia
Background: Operational definitions outline how a conceptual definition will be measured for consistent, reproducible data collection and analysis. This article reports the decision criteria that will be used for an operational definition of integrative medicine (IM) in a secondary analysis of an Au...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Integrative Medicine Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422023000744 |
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| author | Jennifer Hunter Joanna E. Harnett Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan Marie Pirotta |
| author_facet | Jennifer Hunter Joanna E. Harnett Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan Marie Pirotta |
| author_sort | Jennifer Hunter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Operational definitions outline how a conceptual definition will be measured for consistent, reproducible data collection and analysis. This article reports the decision criteria that will be used for an operational definition of integrative medicine (IM) in a secondary analysis of an Australian national survey of general practitioner activity. Methods: A multidisciplinary team applied an iterative approach, informed by expert knowledge and literature reviews to establish decision criteria for categorizing the terms in the Australian clinical interface terminology of the International Classification of Primary Care, second edition (ICPC-2 PLUS) and the Coding Atlas for Pharmaceutical Substances, according to whether they reflected IM, conventional/mainstream medicine (MM), or both IM and MM (IM/MM). Results: The final decision criteria categorized all terms for examinations, investigations, advice/counselling, and drugs with synthetic ingredients, and terms for referrals to secondary care services and healthcare practitioners that are not a traditional or complementary medicine practitioner as MM. Terms that could apply to both styles of clinical practice (e.g., preventive health, lifestyle medicine, psychosocial and some drugs with natural ingredients) were categorised as IM/MM. The remaining terms, that mostly reflected the World Health Organization's theoretical definitions of traditional and complementary medicine, were categorized as IM. Conclusion: Differentiating between integrative and conventional/mainstream medicine in general practice is context specific and not always possible. The category IM/MM proposes integrative medicine as an extension, rather than an alternative. The rationale for the integrative medicine operational definition has relevance for researchers and health services in Australia, and internationally. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-689ea8437b914cb5a4f3a2fa7f4f1667 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2213-4220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Integrative Medicine Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-689ea8437b914cb5a4f3a2fa7f4f16672025-08-20T02:06:43ZengElsevierIntegrative Medicine Research2213-42202023-12-0112410099510.1016/j.imr.2023.100995What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in AustraliaJennifer Hunter0Joanna E. Harnett1Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan2Marie Pirotta3School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Australia; Health Research Group Pty. Limited, Sydney, Australia; Corresponding author at: School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Building A15, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, AustraliaSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, AustraliaDepartment of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaBackground: Operational definitions outline how a conceptual definition will be measured for consistent, reproducible data collection and analysis. This article reports the decision criteria that will be used for an operational definition of integrative medicine (IM) in a secondary analysis of an Australian national survey of general practitioner activity. Methods: A multidisciplinary team applied an iterative approach, informed by expert knowledge and literature reviews to establish decision criteria for categorizing the terms in the Australian clinical interface terminology of the International Classification of Primary Care, second edition (ICPC-2 PLUS) and the Coding Atlas for Pharmaceutical Substances, according to whether they reflected IM, conventional/mainstream medicine (MM), or both IM and MM (IM/MM). Results: The final decision criteria categorized all terms for examinations, investigations, advice/counselling, and drugs with synthetic ingredients, and terms for referrals to secondary care services and healthcare practitioners that are not a traditional or complementary medicine practitioner as MM. Terms that could apply to both styles of clinical practice (e.g., preventive health, lifestyle medicine, psychosocial and some drugs with natural ingredients) were categorised as IM/MM. The remaining terms, that mostly reflected the World Health Organization's theoretical definitions of traditional and complementary medicine, were categorized as IM. Conclusion: Differentiating between integrative and conventional/mainstream medicine in general practice is context specific and not always possible. The category IM/MM proposes integrative medicine as an extension, rather than an alternative. The rationale for the integrative medicine operational definition has relevance for researchers and health services in Australia, and internationally.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422023000744Family medicineGeneral practiceHealth services researchIntegrative medicineOperational definitionPrimary health care |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer Hunter Joanna E. Harnett Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan Marie Pirotta What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia Integrative Medicine Research Family medicine General practice Health services research Integrative medicine Operational definition Primary health care |
| title | What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia |
| title_full | What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia |
| title_fullStr | What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia |
| title_short | What is integrative medicine? Establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in Australia |
| title_sort | what is integrative medicine establishing the decision criteria for an operational definition of integrative medicine for general practice health services research in australia |
| topic | Family medicine General practice Health services research Integrative medicine Operational definition Primary health care |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422023000744 |
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