Uncorrected Proof Mod Care J. 2024 April; 21(2):e138372. Published online 2023 November 10. https://doi.org/10.5812/mcj-138372. Research Article Determining the Beliefs, use Levels, and Attitudes of Individuals Diagnosed with COVID-19 Concerning Complementary and Alternative Medicine Methods Melike Demir Do ˘ gan 1, * and Bahar Aksoy 2 1 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, G¨ um¨ us ¸hane University, G¨ um¨ us ¸hane, Turkey 2 Child Health Nursing Department, Kumluca Faculty of Health Sciences, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey * Corresponding author: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, G¨ um¨ us ¸hane University, G¨ um¨ us ¸hane, Turkey. Email: melekdm@gmail.com Received 2023 June 20; Revised 2023 September 30; Accepted 2023 October 02. Abstract Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the beliefs, use levels, and attitudes of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) concerning complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods. Methods: Snowball sampling was employed in this descriptive and cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 694 people living in Turkey who had COVID-19 and agreed to voluntarily participate. The data were collected with the introductory information form and the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (HCAMQ). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS v. 26. Results: In the study, 62.8% of the participants stated that they used CAM after being diagnosed with COVID-19; 85.5% of the participants stated that they used CAM for coughing, 84.2% to relieve breathing, 79.6% for shortness of breath, and 73.6% for strengthening immunity. Women had a more positive attitude towards CAM when compared to men. As the income level elevated, the attitude towards holistic health became more positive. Conclusions: The individuals employed various herbal approaches after they had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and women had a more positive attitude towards CAM than men did. Keywords: Integrative Medicine, COVID-19, Symptom Management, Attitudes 1. Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and spread rapidly all over the world (1, 2). Pneumonia and death may develop in cases that progress with different symptoms such as high fever, shortness of breath, cough, sore throat, nasal obstruction, muscle pain, fatigue, weakness, shivering, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of taste and smell due to COVID-19 (1-4). The lack of a definitive antiviral treatment for COVID-19 has made people anxious and has encouraged them to perform protective behaviors (5, 6). People tend to resort to complementary and alternative treatment (CAM) to reduce the possibility of being infected, strengthen their immunity, alleviate the progression of infection, and better manage the current situation (5-7). A study determined that traditional Chinese medicine was effective in alleviating the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients, reducing their mortality, and decreasing the rate of relapse (8). Another study stated that herbal treatment methods could prevent COVID-19 and reduce the severity of the disease (9, 10). Similarly, citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges have been reported to play a promising role in the prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19 (11). It has been stated that lemon also strengthens immunity and helps relieve respiratory symptoms (12, 13). It was reported that polyphenolic compounds found in thyme, dogwood, rosemary, sage, mint, basil, apple peel, black tea, asparagus, buckwheat, onion, green tea, fig, grapefruit, lemon, lime, apple, strawberry, mulberry, and most citrus fruits played a role as an antiviral agent, especially against respiratory tract infections, in the treatment of COVID-19 (14). Including Chinese herbal medicine in standard medical therapy Copyright © 2024, Modern Care Journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.