SURVEY OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE INCLUSION WITHIN PHYSICAL THERAPY CURRICULA. Paula Geigle*1,2; Mary Lou Galantino1,3 1. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; 2. Department of Physical Therapy, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA; 3. Program of Physical Therapy, Richard Stockton College of NJ, Pomona, NJ PURPOSE: Survey accredited physical therapy programs to determine the current prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) exposure included in curricula. This survey study provides self report data regarding CAM inclusion, and reasons why faculty members choose to include or not include CAM into program content. BACKGROUNDS/SIGNIFICANCE: The field of complementary and alternative medicine simultaneously holds multiple world-views, and encompasses a wide range of disciplines. Sixty percent of medical schools have begun to teach about CAM practices. Hospitals are creating complementary and integrated medicine practices, health suppliers are offering expanded benefits packages that include the services of alternative practices, and biomedical research organizations are investing substantial funds to investigate CAM practices. Investigation of the current prevalence of CAM content, and what level of inclusion (minimal, moderate, high) in PT curricula will assist programs as they modify existing curricula, and develop new programs. Qualitative data regarding why CAM is, or is not, included in PT curricula is also of interest. Insights into the understanding of CAM practice by physical therapists is available to interested parties (accreditation agencies, the public, other healthcare practitioners). SUBJECTS: A data base of all accredited physical therapy programs in the United States is maintained by Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). All currently, accredited programs were included in our survey. Exclusion criterion included: developing PT programs, PT programs that are not currently accredited by CAPTE, existing PT programs outside of the US, and all PTA programs. METHODS AND MATERIALS: An IRB approved, pilot tested, two-page survey was emailed to all program chair persons of accredited PT programs. Two weeks later the survey was emailed again to all nonresponders; and two weeks later a hard copy survey was mailed to existing non responding programs. A cover letter was included which addressed the purpose, aggregate data use only, and provided the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine category definitions. ANALYSES: A study database was created with Microsoft Access (Microsoft Corp.) maintaining program confidentiality. Data was exported to the latest version of STATA (College Station, TX) for a quality check and analysis. Returned surveys were analyzed descriptively to characterize the data shape, tendency and variability. The data was summarized in a frequency distribution and graphically depicted in a histogram for each category. In addition, qualitative analysis was completed for the explanatory data. Using a constant comparative method, prominent themes were extracted from the data. Non responder information was gathered as possible to ascertain if responder and nonresponder programs differed in numerous variables (demographics, faculty specialization, degree awarded, age of program, etc). RESULTS: Sixty-five percent of all PT programs responded. No difference was found between reponders and non-responders with regard to faculty specialization, program tenure, and demographic data such as location, size of class, size of institution. Ninety two percent of the responders include some CAM curriculum content. Most commonly included CAM areas were: manipulative and body-based methods, alternative medical systems, and biologically based therapies, Most frequent responses to 'what factors, if any, create difficulty to including CAM in PT curriculum' were: limited curriculum time, lack of evidence supporting CAM practices, and trouble locating qualified CAM presenters. CONCLUSIONS: This survey provided initial data about frequency of CAM inclusion, types of CAM techniques, and what level of instruction is provided in physical therapy curricula. In keeping with the pace of change the profession of physical therapy needs to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to address client questions about CAM. The increasing popularity of CAM may reflect changing needs and values of our modern society. This change includes a rise in prevalence of chronic disease, an increase in public access to worldwide health information, an increased sense of entitlement to a quality of life, declining faith that scientific breakthroughs will have relevance for the personal treatment of disease, and an increased interest in spiritualism. Currently, forty to fifty percent of Americans use some form of alternative and complementary medicine. But no published account of what CAM interventions are taught within accredited physical therapy programs existed prior to this study. Additional studies are planned to expand our understanding of the decision making process of including CAM or not including CAM in PT curricula. These studies will include in-depth qualitative interviews to gather rich details surrounding PT faculty members understanding and beliefs regarding CAM practices. FUNDING SOURCE: This research was accomplished during the time both authors were funded by the National Instutite of Health, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, as Postdoctoral Research Fellows at the Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. KEYWORDS: Complementary Alternative Medicine Copyright 2009 by the American Physical Therapy Association. Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Educators, students, and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy (ISSN 1538-6724) by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Other types of customers who want permission to reprint should contact the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.