Women's Attitudes Toward Complementary and Integrative Therapies and Resilience During COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: The study aimed to investigate what kind of complementary and integrative therapies (CITs) women who tested positive for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) turned to and the relationship between their attitudes toward using CITs and their resilience. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between the dates December 1st, 2022, and June 1st, 2023. The study sample comprised 271 women who had tested positive for COVID-19. Data were gathered online using a personal information form, the Attitude towards Using Complementary Treatments Scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale. The data were analyzed using the MannWhitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's correlation coefficients. Results: Seven in ten participants used CITs when they had COVID-19. They mostly consumed vitamin supplements and herbal teas. Participants turned to CITs because they believed that CITs constituted natural and safe approaches capable of enhancing their overall quality of life. Most participants believed that CITs helped them recover from COVID-19. Participants who used CITs had more positive attitudes toward using CITs than those who did not use them (p<0.05). Participants who were vaccinated against COVID-19, especially those who got more than two shots, had more positive attitudes toward using CITs than those who were not (p<0.05). A positive and weak correlation existed between participants' attitudes toward CITs and their resilience during COVID-19 (r=0.146; p=0.016). Conclusion: Most participants used CITs to recover from COVID-19, which positively affected their resilience.