More than one-in-five patients attending a GP practice in north Dublin were also attending elsewhere for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, a new study has found.

The survey of 328 patients attending the practice found that 27 of them had visited a CAM practitioner in the previous 12 months.

However, 41% of the patients surveyed had not told their GP that they were using complementary therapy.

The study found that women, those with private health insurance and middle-aged people were the most likely to use CAM.

The most common reason given for using this therapy was to treat an illness for which conventional medicine was already sought. Massage was the most common alternative therapy sought.

The authors, GPs at the Rath Mhuire Health Centre in Swords, said doctors should consider asking about CAM use as a routine part of history-taking with patients, especially where the patient has a chronic illness, has experienced drug side effects or where there has been poor compliance with conventional treatment.

They say doctors should be aware that patients may be hesitant to share information about the CAM therapies they are using, and there is an increasing ethical obligation on GPs to present the risks and benefits of all competing therapeutic options for their patients.

The study is published in the current Irish Medical Journal.