INTERNATIONAL PREVALENCE OF CONSULTATION WITH A NATUROPATHIC PRACTITIONER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

ObjectivesNaturopathy is a traditional medicine system informed by codified philosophies and principles, and an emphasis on non-pharmacologic therapeutic interventions. While naturopathy is practiced by approximately 75 000 to 100 000 naturopathic practitioners in at least 98 countries, little is known about the international prevalence of history of consultation with a naturopathic practitioner. This study reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies describing the global prevalence of history of consultation with a naturopathic practitioner by the general population.SettingThe included literature was identified through a systematic search of eight databases between September and October 2019, as well as the grey literature.ParticipantsStudies were included if they reported the prevalence rate of consultations with a naturopathic practitioner by the general populationInterventionsSurvey items needed to report consultations with a naturopathic practitioner as defined in the country where data was collected, and not combine naturopathic consultations with other health services or only report consulations for illness populations.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPrimary measures used for the analysis was consultations in the previous 12-months. Other prevalence timeframes were reported as secondary measures.MethodsMeta-analysis of prevalence data was conducted using random effects models based on individual countries and World Health Organisation (WHO) world regions.ResultsThe literature search identified eight manuscripts summarizing 13 studies reporting prevalence for inclusion in the review. All included studies had a low risk of bias. Meta-analysis of the included studies by world region found the 12-month prevalence of history of naturopathy consultations ranged from 1% in the Region of the Americas to 6% in the European and Western Pacific Regions.ConclusionsThere are up to 6-fold differences in the prevalence of naturopathy consults over 12-months between and within world regions, which may be driven by a range of policy, legislative and social factors.Strengths andLimitations of this studyNaturopathy is one of the most commonly used traditional and complementary medicines in the Western world and this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis reporting the prevalence of consutations with a naturopathic practitioner.This study includes only includes data published after 2010 to ensure the results are contemporary, however this may have excluded some studies in countries with older data.The results are limited by the poor availability of data reporting consultations with a naturopathic practitioner, including in countries where a large number of naturopathic practitioners are known to provide care.