Positive Health Online

Abstract

PARAMORE, Project Hope Center for Health Affairs, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, USA conducted a study to update national estimates regarding the use of alternative therapies, in order to improve the quality of the estimates and to investigate differences between users and nonusers of alternative medicine.

Background

Methodology

Data were analysed from the 1994 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Access to Care Survey.

Results

Almost 10% of the US population, about 25 million people, visited a professional in 1994 for at least one of the following four therapies: chiropractic, relaxation techniques, therapeutic massage or acupuncture. Alternative therapy users made almost twice as many visits to conventional practitioners compared to nonusers, users still reported much higher levels of unmet need for medical care.

Conclusion

The growing emphasis upon market-driven health care and consumer choice suggests that alternative therapies may have a larger role in the health-care system for the future.

References

Paramore LC. Use of alternative therapies: estimates from the 1994 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Access to Care Survey. J Pain Symptom Manage 13(2): 83-9. Feb 1997.