Education of complementary and alternative medicine in adult education centers in Germany: a web-based survey.

Background: Adult education centers are an important part of health education worldwide. Our aim was to evaluate the courses offered by German adult education centers with regard to complementary medicine and nutrition.

Methods: A systematic web-based search was done for the websites of German adult education centers and courses were analyzed considering topics, scientific soundness, and qualification of instructors.

Results: Our search revealed 502 courses, 360 (71.7%) related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and 176 courses on nutrition (35.1%). CAM courses most often presented methods with a focus on traditional Eastern medicine with yoga and similar mind-body practices (41.9%), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM; 13.3%), and ayurvedic medicine (11.4%). Content concerning nutrition mainly included controversial fasting methods like alkaline fasting, detox diets, and therapeutic fasting (43.8%), as well as Eastern traditional diets from TCM and ayurveda (21.7%). Most of the courses were given by non-medical practitioners (NMPs; 36.4%), while only very few physicians were engaged.

Conclusion: There are substantial doubts on the scientific background of many courses offered for lay adult health education. Besides direct misinformation, many courses reinforce alternative and non-evidence-based notions in society. Adult education centers should reconsider the topics of their courses as well as the professional qualifications of the instructors.