Attitudes Toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Their Relationship with Symptom Control and Medication Adherence in Individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Descriptive–Correlational Study

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is common among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet its relationship with symptom burden and medication adherence remains insufficiently characterized outside Western populations. This descriptive, correlational study evaluated attitudes toward CAM in relation to symptom control and medication adherence among 159 individuals with COPD attending a chest diseases outpatient clinic in Türkiye between June 2025 and January 2026. Data were collected using a Patient Information Form, the COPD Assessment Test (CAT), the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS), and the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (HCAMQ) and analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression. Mean CAT, MARS, and HCAMQ total scores were 19.44 ± 7.98, 20.25 ± 4.22, and 28.31 ± 12.65, respectively. In bivariate analyses, CAT scores were significantly higher among participants with lower income than expenses (and nominally higher among unemployed participants), while participants aged 61 years or older reported more favorable holistic health attitudes and high school graduates the least favorable; however, none of these sociodemographic variables remained an independent predictor in multiple regression models adjusting for the others, indicating substantial mutual confounding. Knowing one’s medication name and dosage was associated with higher symptom burden and less favorable holistic health attitudes (all false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted q < 0.05). Medication adherence was not significantly associated with CAM attitudes or with any sociodemographic or clinical variable after FDR correction; nominal differences (e.g., by comorbidity status and heating type) were exploratory only. Attitudes toward CAM among individuals with COPD are shaped by socioeconomic status, education, disease-related knowledge, and symptom burden; the systematic assessment of CAM use and attitudes should be integrated into routine nursing care.