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Research: TINDLE and co-workers,
Listed in Issue 114
Abstract
TINDLE and co-workers, Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, Osher Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, have described trends in the use of complementary and alternative medicine in the USA between 1997 and 2002.
Background
The aim of the study was to compare the use of CAM treatments by US adults in 1997 and 2002.
Methodology
Two national surveys of CAM use by US adults were compared: (1) the Alternative Health/Complementary and Alternative Medicine supplement to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, 31,044 adults) and (2) a 1997 national survey (2055 adults), each containing questions about 15 common CAM therapies. Prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, and insurance coverage of CAM use were measured.
Results
The most commonly used CAM modalities in 2002 were herbal medicine (18.6%; this represents over 38 million US adults!) followed by relaxation techniques (14.2%) and chiropractic (7.4%). Among CAM users, 41% used two or more CAM therapies during the prior year. Those who were aged 40-64, female, of non-black/non-Hispanic race, and had an annual income of $65,000 or higher, were most likely to use CAM therapies. Overall CAM use for the 15 therapies common to both surveys was similar between 1997 and 2002 (36.5%, vs. 35.0%, respectively). The greatest relative increase in CAM use between 1997 and 2002 was seen for herbal medicine (12.1% vs.18.6%, respectively), and yoga (3.7% vs. 5.1%, respectively),whereas the largest relative decrease occurred for chiropractic (9.9% to 7.4%, respectively).
Conclusion
The prevalence of CAM use has remained stable from 1997 to 2002, in that more than one-third of Americans used CAM in the past year, representing about 72 million adults.
References
Tindle HA, Davis RB, Phillips RS, Eisenberg DM. Trends in use of complementary and alternative medicine by US adults: 1997-2002. Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine 11 (1): 42-49, Jan-Feb 2005.
Comment
For those PH readers always seeking statistics regarding use of complementary therapies, please bookmark this study.
