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Open research questions in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies

72 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 675 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Although yoga has shown promise in alleviating stress and anxiety among women undergoing fertility treatments, current evidence remains limited regarding its direct impact on clinical IVF outcomes such as clinical pregnancy rate.

    The Role of Complementary and Integrative Medicine on Assisted Reproductive Technologies Outcomes: A Comprehensive Review of Preclinical and Clinical Evidence · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should investigate the potential mediating role of coping styles in the relationship between health anxiety and CAM orientation. It remains unclear whether health anxiety leads to increased CAM orientation or whether CAM engagement influences anxiety levels.

    Health Anxiety and Attitudes Toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study · 2026 · DOI

  • For naturopathic medicine and related TCIM professions, this creates a predictable cycle: limited funding leads to less robust research in the form of systematic reviews and case reports, which is then mislabeled as lack of evidence.

    Funding the Evidence Base for Naturopathic Medicine and Traditional, Complementary Integrative Medicine in the Eastern Mediterranean Region · 2026 · DOI

  • The strengths of this study include its large, nationwide sample of Korean patients with cancer (n=1,804), comprehensive data collection covering diverse aspects of CAM, and its recent timeframe.

    Perceptions and Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Patients with Cancer and Their Family Members (KCSG PC21-19) · 2026 · DOI

  • There are some limitations in the study during the entire process of the study. The use of self-administered questionnaires could have led to response bias as some of the respondents may not have been able to give all accurate information about their healthcare practices and utilization of traditional medicine. Secondly, the study was conducted in only selected rural communities in Yobe State which means the findings do not necessarily reflect the health care behaviours in the entire of Nigeria. Traditional medicine use may be differently influenced in various geographic areas due to cultural differences. Thirdly, insecurities and transportation problems in some rural communities had an impact on accessibility during the data collection process. There were also geographical limitations due to financial and time constraints. Notwithstanding these constraints, the study offers significant socio-scientific understanding of the ingredients that affects acceptance and utilization of traditional medicine by the rural households of Yobe State.

    Sociological Study on Socioeconomic and Cultural Influence on Traditional Medicine Acceptability and Use among Rural Households in Yobe State, Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

  • This is the first-of-its-kind study in which the prevalence of NCDs and their risk factors were assessed in an ALDCs under the NPCDCS program. The study has presented robust estimates from four distinct geographical locations of India. The major strengths of this study lie in its large sample size, real-world implementation under a national program, and comprehensive assessment of both modifiable and non-modifiable determinants. However, in the cross- sectional design, potential reporting bias in self-reported behaviors cannot be ruled out. The difference in prevalence estimates between this study and similar studies may be due to differences in methodol- ogy, including study objectives, study design, questionnaires, target population, and sampling strategy. There might be under- or over- reporting of risk factors like tobacco and alcohol consumption due to social desirability bias. Despite these limitations, the study provides valuable insights into the evolving epidemiology of NCDs in India and offers empirical evidence to inform region-specific prevention strategies.

    Clinico-epidemiological profile findings of the screened population under NPCDCS–Ayush (Integration of Homeopathy along with Yoga): a pilot project · 2026 · DOI

  • There are clear limitations to this review. Firstly, we chose not to limit the period of the publications which resulted in a large time window within which the results were available where issues initially present in older studies may have been mitigated in more recent surveys. Our attempt to explore changes in perceptions over time was clearly limited by study heterogeneity form one study to the next, except in just a few cases where surveys were repeated by the same authors. Survey instruments were also heterogenic although most had attempted some degree of face validity or had created surveys based on previous literature. However, the degree with which detail concerning attitudes could be extracted was varied with one study providing only a single question concerning attitudes regarding the chiropractic profession. Notwithstanding, such heterogeneity in the wording and design of surveys, and within national jurisdictions would suggest caution in interpreting any observed similarities or differences between studies results. In addition, only a third of studies were deemed high quality as judged by the risk of bias assessment in the review with the remaining two thirds being medium quality. In the absence of a sub analysis based on quality, the reporting of high and medium quality studies as a homogenous group may have confounded attempts to summarise themes. Lastly, not all national jurisdictions were represented equally with Australia, Canada, USA and UK dominating the data set. We attempted to mitigate this by presenting characteristics of studies within national jurisdictions and summarising any observed changes within these jurisdictions over time. However, this observational summary may not be as robustly representative as desired to condently identify changes.

    Attitudes and perceptions of health care professionals concerning chiropractors and chiropractic practice: a systematic review · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on understanding the decision-making process behind the choice between traditional International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology (2026) 10:5 Page 25 of 28 and biomedical treatments, as well as conducting empirical evaluations of tradi- tional practices to assess their efficacy and safety.

    Unraveling traditional healing practices for jaundice among adults in Bangladesh: a multicenter qualitative and ethnographic study · 2026 · DOI

  • Thus, the less signifi- cant improvement in response to ICM treatments observed in patients with both cancer and DM cannot be explained by their receiving less treatment, but rather an as-yet not understood form of "refractoriness" to these interventions.

    The impact of integrative medicine on quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus and cancer · 2026 · DOI

  • Developing new evidential devices must involve incorporating the perspectives of local practitioners and rethinking the criteria for what should count as evidence in the context of the respective T&CM in question.

    Rethinking “Evidence” in Traditional Medicine “Integration” · 2026 · DOI

  • Innovative research methodologies and modes of two-eyed problematization that integrate decolonial reflections from the social sciences and philosophy are absolutely paramount for bridging the gap between EBM and T&CM.

    Rethinking “Evidence” in Traditional Medicine “Integration” · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on understanding the decision-making process behind the choice between traditional International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology (2026) 10:5 Page 25 of 28 and biomedical treatments, as well as conducting empirical evaluations of tradi- tional practices to assess their efficacy and safety. However, the ingredients used by the healers were not quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed through laboratory tests, which was a significant limitation of this study.

    Unraveling traditional healing practices for jaundice among adults in Bangladesh: a multicenter qualitative and ethnographic study · 2026 · DOI

  • The Case for Whole-Person Integrative Care Wayne B. Jonas 1,* and Elena Rosenbaum 2 1 Samueli Foundation, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA 2 Department of Family and Community Medicine, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY 12208, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-7-03-647-7435 Abstract: Rationale: There is a need for medicine to deliver more whole-person care. This is a narrative review of several models of whole-person care and studies that illustrate the business case for wholeperson models in primary care. Objectives: To provide an overview of what whole-person care models exist and explore evidence to support these models. Study Selection: Representative whole-person care models widely used in the United States are summarized and evaluated. Selected studies focused on outpatient primary care with examples from programs that integrate the delivery of conventional medical care, complementary and alternative medicine, and self-care within the context of social and cultural environments. Methods: Pubmed search conducted December 2020–February 2021. Two iterative searches using terms for “Whole Health Veterans Administration”, “integrative medicine”, “integrative health”, “complementary and alternative medicine”, and, as they related to the outcomes, of “health outcomes”, “cost-effectiveness”, “cost reduction”, “patient satisfaction”, and “physician satisfaction”. Additional studies were identified from an initial search and the authors’ experience of over 50 years. We looked for studies of whole-person care used in general primary care, those not using a single modality and only from United States practices. Results: A total of 125 (out of 1746) studies were found and met our inclusion criteria. We found that whole-person models of primary care exist, are quite heterogeneous in their approaches, and routinely report substantial benefits for improving the patient experience, clinical outcomes and in reducing costs. Conclusions: Evidence for the benefit of whole-person care models exist but definitions are quite heterogenous and unfocused. There is a need for more standardization of whole-person models and more research using whole systems approaches rather than reductionistic attempts using isolated components.

    The Future of Medicine: Frontiers in Integrative Health and Medicine · 2022 · DOI

  • Plants could be a better alternative to modern medicines in the future. To validate the hypothesis of plants as a medicine further, extensive research should be carried out on different medicinal plants so that correct dosage and toxicity levels may be known prior to application. Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.G.A., M.A.A. (Mohammad Azam Ansari) and H.M.K.; methodology, S.G.A. and M.A.A. (Mohammad Azam Ansari).; validation, M.A.A. (Mohammad A. Alzohairy), A.A., M.N.A., S.A. and S.R.; investigation, S.G.A., M.A.A. (Mohammad Azam Ansari), A.A. and S.A.; resources, writing—original draft preparation, S.G.A. and M.A.A. (Mohammad Azam Ansari); writing—review and editing, M.A.A. (Mohammad A. Alzohairy), A.A., M.N.A., S.A., S.R. and H.M.K.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Funding: Deanship of Scientific Research, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Grant number-Covid19-2020-002-IRMC. Institutional Review Board Statement: Not Applicable. Informed Consent Statement: Not Applicable. Data Availability Statement: Not Applicable. Acknowledgments: Syed Ghazanfar Ali would like to acknowledge Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory (funded by DHR-ICMR-New Delhi) in Aligarh U.P India for giving an opportunity to work as a Research Scientist (Non-medical). Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

    The Future of Medicine: Frontiers in Integrative Health and Medicine · 2022 · DOI

  • While 2980 registered herbal and dietary supplements were reported by 2012 in Qatar, there is no information on the current status, post-market surveillance data, or safety monitoring outcomes of these registered supplements.

    Regulatory status of complementary medicine in Qatar: An update · 2022 · DOI

  • There are many efforts to integrate complementary medicine practices into primary healthcare services, as suggested and supported by WHO, but the specific outcomes and effectiveness of these integration efforts are not detailed.

    Regulatory status of complementary medicine in Qatar: An update · 2022 · DOI

  • Temporal changes in low back pain treatment patterns in Korean medicine clinics require longitudinal tracking beyond the single 2017 cross-sectional KMUHMCS dataset to identify emerging or declining treatment modalities.

    Traditional Korean medicine treatment patterns in patients with low back pain: A cross-sectional study based on the 2017 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey · 2020 · DOI

  • The assumption that most Korean medicine doctors maintained consistent treatment patterns cannot be verified from retrospective survey data where patients may have received components of treatment patterns across multiple visits rather than single sessions.

    Traditional Korean medicine treatment patterns in patients with low back pain: A cross-sectional study based on the 2017 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey · 2020 · DOI

  • Treatment patterns with fewer respondents (physiotherapy alone group, specific acupuncture-cupping-pharmaco-acupuncture combinations) showed extreme results that are difficult to generalize; increasing patient numbers within each distinct treatment pattern would determine whether findings remain consistent.

    Traditional Korean medicine treatment patterns in patients with low back pain: A cross-sectional study based on the 2017 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey · 2020 · DOI

  • The Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey dataset lacks severity classification of low back pain symptoms, preventing analysis of whether treatment patterns and patient satisfaction vary based on pain severity levels.

    Traditional Korean medicine treatment patterns in patients with low back pain: A cross-sectional study based on the 2017 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey · 2020 · DOI

  • Logistic regression analyses could not be conducted on combined treatment patterns due to limited sample sizes for individual treatment pattern groups; robust multivariate analysis of acupuncture combination patterns (e.g., acupuncture + cupping + pharmaco-acupuncture) requires accumulation of data with adequate respondents per pattern.

    Traditional Korean medicine treatment patterns in patients with low back pain: A cross-sectional study based on the 2017 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey · 2020 · DOI

  • The mechanisms by which cupping therapy controls low back pain through increased blood flow and negative pressure, and the neuroprotective and antioxidant effects of pharmaco-acupuncture, require investigation through well-designed prospective studies rather than the retrospective survey design used in this analysis.

    Traditional Korean medicine treatment patterns in patients with low back pain: A cross-sectional study based on the 2017 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey · 2020 · DOI

  • The integrative medicine framework claims that herbal and energy medicine address root causes of chronic disease, yet the paper does not operationalize what constitutes a 'root cause' in integrative versus conventional medicine, nor provide criteria for measuring whether removing a proposed root cause (e.g., energy stagnation) prevents recurrence of chronic disease symptoms.

    An integrative medicine physician’s perspective on herbal and energy medicine · 2019 · DOI

  • The paper recommends energy medicine modalities including reiki, healing touch, and cranial sacral therapy as supportive for maintaining healthy energy systems, but provides no mechanism of action, dosage protocols, or comparative effectiveness data. Studies are needed to measure quantifiable energy parameters before and after these interventions and to distinguish placebo effects from specific treatment effects.

    An integrative medicine physician’s perspective on herbal and energy medicine · 2019 · DOI

  • The TCM clock methodology for identifying organ system dysfunction based on symptom timing (e.g., 2 am awakening associated with liver meridian overactivity and unresolved anger) lacks systematic validation. No controlled trials compare the diagnostic accuracy of TCM clock-based organ identification versus standard clinical workup for conditions like insomnia, nor do studies quantify the specificity of symptom timing patterns for particular meridians.

    An integrative medicine physician’s perspective on herbal and energy medicine · 2019 · DOI

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72 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 675 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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