ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2023
Perspective of adults in Saudi Arabia toward complementary and alternative medicine use for autism spectrum disorder: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Attending Five Autism Centres in Arab Countries: Associations with Sociodemographic Factors and Health Literacy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dietary and non-dietary complementary and alternative medicine use in Saudi Arabia: the differential role of associated factors.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
- Arabic Mothers' Experiences Using Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a high-prevalence neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communicational, social, and behavioral challenges. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of practices and products that fall outside the realm of conventional medicine practiced worldwide. Traditional CAM is a health practice that comes from a particular culture, such as the use of Zamzam water and black seeds in Saudi Arabia. CAM comprises widely utilized practices in Saudi Arabia for children of various ages and adults. In many cases, CAM is used to treat ASD. The aim of this study is to investigate the perspectives of adults in Saudi Arabia toward CAM for treating ASD.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing an online questionnaire to adults in different regions of Saudi Arabia.
resultsA total of 4,311 adults participated in this study; 66.8% were females and 33.2% were male. Half of the participants reported that they knew about ASD (54.7%). More than half of the participants indicated that CAM-including art therapy (69.0%), physical exercise (67.0%), and limiting the use of electronic (55.4%)-could help in ASD management. Around half of the respondents indicated a belief that traditional treatment cannot help in treating ASD (53.9%). Only 20.0% of the respondents thought that ASD could be entirely treated using CAM therapies. The most common source of knowledge about CAM was social media and the internet (58.6%).
conclusionsThe majority of participants in this study did not believe that ASD could be treated entirely using CAM. In addition, fewer than half of the participants believed that CAM therapies could improve different aspects of ASD, such as behavioral issues. The study highlighted the need for awareness among residents of Saudi Arabia regarding specific treatments for ASD.
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