Zuha Danial
Research Mentor: Dr. Nikhil Parekh
Mentor Department: Wayne State University, NonUM
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 4
Abstract
Integrative medicine is a valuable and sometimes overlooked branch of medicine that utilizes practices like yoga, tai chi, and herbal remedies to further personal wellness. Integrative medicine will be used as an umbrella term to refer to all those subtopics as we investigate their impact in the lives of students. Our team of student researchers aims to understand the intersection of integrative medicine and everyday wellness in the UM student demographic, as well as how those areas contribute to students’ knowledge of diseases such as lung cancer. To what extent does the UM community know and utilize integrative medicine methods? What practices do students engage in to maintain their health and awareness of health problems? Our team created a survey in Qualtrics with a quantitative and qualitative approach to gain insight into this and the various subtopics that fall under integrative medicine. The survey was tested with a small group for feedback, edits were made, and the final survey was distributed to the UM student community. Our research team accessed the basic results in Qualtrics, cleaned the data in Excel, and conducted statistical analysis in RStudio. A chi-squared and t-test of statistical significance were conducted on the cleaned up data to answer the question “To what extent does one’s belief in integrative medicine, specifically ayurveda practices, correlate with their efforts to prevent skin cancer?†A p-value of .264 (>.05) shows that there is not a statistically significant correlation between belief in the effectiveness of Ayurveda and effort in preventing skin cancer. An independent samples t-test showed the same results. However, based on the resulting contingency table, a higher proportion of students who believed ayurvedic practices were effective reported high prevention behaviors (76.9%) compared to those who viewed them as ineffective (50.0%). This descriptive trend suggests higher skin cancer prevention efforts among students with belief in Ayurveda, although results were not statistically significant. Based on the results, a community-based implementation project was developed to help in educating college students on integrative medicine, Ayurveda, and prevention using multiple forms of audio and visual media platforms.. In addition, a second survey was developed and tested for feedback to address specific issues that needed further study.
