Attitudes toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine Scale
Also known as: ACAMS
The ACAMS is a self-report instrument measuring healthcare professionals' and students' attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine. Developed in the early 2000s, it assesses openness, acceptance, and perceived legitimacy of CAM alongside conventional medicine, helping identify educational gaps and organizational readiness for integrative practice.
Key highlights
- Directly measures professional attitudes, a key determinant of CAM integration and patient counseling.
- Suitable for diverse healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists).
- Brief administration time (5–10 minutes) facilitates use in large surveys and educational settings.
- Captures multidimensional attitudes (effectiveness, safety, legitimacy) rather than simple acceptance/rejection.
Intuition
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How it works
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When to use it
The ACAMS is designed for healthcare professionals and students to measure their baseline attitudes toward CAM. Use it to assess readiness for integrative medicine training, identify subgroups (by discipline, seniority, or background) with differing attitudes, evaluate the impact of CAM education or exposure on attitudes, and predict receptiveness to new clinical guidelines incorporating CAM.
Strengths & limitations
- Directly measures professional attitudes, a key determinant of CAM integration and patient counseling.
- Suitable for diverse healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists).
- Brief administration time (5–10 minutes) facilitates use in large surveys and educational settings.
- Captures multidimensional attitudes (effectiveness, safety, legitimacy) rather than simple acceptance/rejection.
- Social desirability bias: respondents may overstate openness to CAM to appear progressive or holistic.
- Stability over time unclear: attitudes may fluctuate with media coverage, clinical experience, or organizational culture; reliability across years not well-established.
- Evidence-base gaps: items do not always distinguish between CAM modalities with varying levels of evidence (e.g., acupuncture vs. homeopathy).
- Norm-referencing: interpretation relies on comparison to reference groups; individual cutoff scores for clinical decision-making are not established.
Common pitfalls
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Applications
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Frequently asked
Should I use ACAMS if I want to measure knowledge about CAM rather than attitudes?
No. ACAMS measures attitudes (beliefs, openness, acceptance), not knowledge or understanding. For knowledge assessment, use a CAM knowledge test or clinical competency scale.
How do ACAMS scores differ between physicians and nurses?
Studies typically show nurses report higher openness to CAM than physicians, likely reflecting different educational traditions and professional cultures. Always report scores stratified by discipline and use discipline-specific norms if available.
Can ACAMS be used to predict whether a clinician will recommend CAM to patients?
Attitudes are one predictor of behavior, but not deterministic. High attitude scores are associated with greater willingness to recommend CAM, but knowledge, clinical guidelines, patient factors, and organizational culture also influence actual referral patterns.
How do I interpret a mid-range ACAMS score?
Mid-range scores typically reflect mixed or cautious attitudes—the respondent sees potential value in some CAM modalities under certain conditions but may have concerns about evidence, safety, or professional legitimacy. Use qualitative follow-up or open-ended items to clarify which specific modalities or concerns drive the score.
Sources
- 1.Hough, H. J., Darcey, V. L., & Scofield, R. F. (2003). Attitudes toward alternative/complementary medicines among pharmacy students, faculty, and preceptors. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 67(3), 85.
- 2.Chan, M. F., Chan, E. A., & Mok, E. (2002). Attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine: A cross-sectional study of Hong Kong nursing students. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 11(5), 597–605.
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Cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 3). Attitudes toward CAM Scale. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/integrative-medicine/attitudes-cam-scale