Qualitative analysis of pseudoscience’s perception in Spanish healthcare professionals

Abstract

Introduction: Pseudoscience’s use fallacious arguments to expand in society. Different groups of professionals are being analyzed in order to identify, characterize and eventually undermine these major communicative patterns. Objective: To analyze the Spanish healthcare professionals’ perception of pseudoscience. Methodology: A qualitative approach was used, consisting of in-depth interviews and questionnaires. Data was analyzed using an inductive analysis with the intention to identify the main patterns present in the subjects. Results:  Interviewees defined pseudoscience as those practices lacking any scientific method and created by false specialists. The spiritual character of pseudoscience, together with the exploitation of the placebo effect, its disguise of natural and innocuous, and the emotional support of the preceptors of the false therapies are highlighted as the main causes of its spread. Conclusions: 1) For pseudoscience’s prevention, healthcare professionals should be supported by coordinated strategies from the authorities; 2) the decline in public investment in the care services can be one of the causes of its expansion; 3) in the post-truth context, the emotional and spiritual arguments acquire a greater authority than the scientific ones, thus provoking a loss of confidence of the epistemological scientific framework.