Combining and Using the Utrecht Method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Facilitate Professional and Ethical Deliberation and Decision Making in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Case Study among a Panel of Stakeholders

Background. In daily practice, healthcare practitioners face many challenges in ethical and professional decision making. Currently, little is known on the ethical and professional deliberations and weighing benefits against risks in daily complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practice. The aim of this study was to combine the Utrecht method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in deliberations, weighing benefits against risks of using ginger for a pregnant woman suffering nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) along with other comorbidities. Methods. A hypothetical case was constructed using the twelve tips for constructing dilemma case-based assessment. Three CAM practitioners, two physicians, three pharmacists, and two patients were recruited, and the Utrecht and the AHP methods were combined and used to deliberate and weigh benefits against risks of using ginger for the presented case. Results. Responses from the ten panelists were obtained. Priority ratings showed significantly higher scores (p-value

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