**2. Ethical aspects of traditional medicine and complementary alternative medicine research**

#### **2.1 The value of a study: its social value**

Value is defined as an evaluation done in a socially accepted manner, showing the positive or negative meanings of objects in the outside world for people and society (e.g., good and bad, beautiful and ugly, underlying in nature and society phenomena) [10]. Value, as a criterion, includes the distinction between what is and what should be, and always appears as something positive or negative. The value that something has in terms of producing the desired results or the value displayed by something that acts as a tool in reaching the desired result is called instrumental or pragmatic value [11]. It can be said that the results of studies, too, have instrumental value. It should be borne in mind that research has a social value through knowledge production.

When the value of a research project is analyzed for social and scientific reasons, it increases as much as it has the promise of improving health or increasing knowledge that is important for health.

Studies that have no social value can be seen as a waste of resources and may pose participants some risks. It is an ethical imperative that in clinical trials, volunteer participants are not at risk other than investigating socially and scientifically important results. For this reason, only therapies with the greatest scientific and social importance should be selected for research purposes. Ensuring that social and scientific value prevails over commercial value is an ongoing ethical responsibility. Preliminary studies on research are absolutely valuable. The information they provide can cumulatively improve healthcare. From time to time, additions to clinical applications can be made in this way [12].

Determining who will benefit from the research result is important in determining possible benefits. The potential value of each research should be outlined at the outset. The results of the research should not only be subject of scientific meetings and publications but should be disclosed to all stakeholders in an appropriate language and expression. The reason why a patient or a relative of a patient seeks remedy other than evidence-based medicine is that there is no treatment of the disease in question or probabilities are very low. We should also understand people who seek health alternatives. For TM and CAM, the social value of the research has a special importance in this sense. On the other hand, research should not be allowed to weaken the existing health system of the society. In TM and CAM research, researchers should carefully monitor the socio-cultural dimensions of disease experiences, practitioner-patient interactions, and mutual compliance with treatment instructions during the research process. Research in this field can be categorized as empirical, semi-empirical, descriptive, case presentation, and historical interviews. Regional differences, being patient-centered, using several approaches together, differences of research participant inclusion/exclusion criteria, and approaches of appropriate placebo selection can affect research outcomes. According to WHO, data supporting the global use of TM and CAM practices are insufficient. More

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*Ethical Evaluation of Clinical Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine*

researches are needed to integrate CAM and TM practices in healthcare systems and

To give a definition, the source is the sum of all inputs such as money, manpower, and equipment, which are essential for any production or utilized during production. The sources to be allocated for transplantation, dialysis, or cancer treatment and the share allocated to other services such as vaccination, infection treatment, and treatment of acute diseases should be balanced. The search for balance leads to discussions on how far scientific and technical possibilities should be used to support patients. However, the limited resources make this issue controversial,

When the limitations of the sources are in question, it is of significance which CAM treatments to evaluate. Research into this area may aim at understanding the biological mechanism of disease or treatment, as well as primarily addressing common disease issues. Acupuncture is used in the case of back pain, headache, migraine, knee pain, facial pain, inducing labor, nausea, vomiting, post-operative pain, essential hypertension, depression, stroke, and so forth. Analgesic effects of acupuncture practices are outcomes of patients' expectations and interaction of neurochemical, physiological, and psychological factors. One of the weakest parts of acupuncture evaluation researches may be the lack of adequate control of placebo [15]. The potential benefit may be another important topic to focus on. It is also possible to center on existing evidence that interventions are effective. Besides the pre-research geographic records, existing records can be evaluated. Regardless of what subject to be addressed, evidence to justify funding for research should be disclosed. Having evidence at hand is crucial to reveal the reliability and effects of TM and CAM treatments. There are few studies comparing treatments specific to

In the process of scientific research, the researcher is basically seeking an explanation and answer to a question. There are two important concepts in this regard. These are validity and reliability. Validity is a concept that determines whether the answer, which is the subject of the research, can be answered with the applied

Predictive validity about how predictive the research tool is in real-life situations and the construct validity regarding how much the tool correlates with the theoretical psychosocial structure of the sample that is being measured should be carefully reviewed in studies to be validated. A valid sample for the research must be calculated correctly. Neutral data collection is necessary for unbiased measurement and evaluation of the result. Science means measurement. Doing wrong measurements will lead to unreliable evidence and treatments. For this reason, utmost attention should be paid to ensure that measurement tools give valid and

Scientific principles and methods are needed to produce reliable results. Scientific validity should be in accordance with the research methodology [12]. The scientific validity range and what the conditions are for the current treatment must be clarified in CAM studies. This situation is important for the social value of the research, as well as epistemologically. According to the research results in relation to CAM treatments, labels of therapies such as approved/unapproved or overridden require

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93094*

imposing the necessity to make a choice [14].

**2.2 Limitation of sources**

these areas [4].

research method.

reliable results [16].

an epistemological and ethical evaluation.

**2.3 Scientific validity**

understand their efficiency, safety, and mechanisms [13].

researches are needed to integrate CAM and TM practices in healthcare systems and understand their efficiency, safety, and mechanisms [13].
