Occurrence and Co-Occurrence of Types of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Education Among Adults in the United States: The 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

Abstract

Background: There are widespread assumptions that a large proportion of American adults use a variety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. The goal of this study is to explore the clustering or linkages among CAM categories in the general population. Linkset analysis and data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were used to address two specific aims. First, the dominant linkages of CAM categories used by the same individual were delineated, and population estimates were generated of the percentage of American adults using different linksets of CAM categories. Second, it was determined whether dominant linkages of CAM modalities differ by age, gender, ethnicity, and education. Methods: Linkset analysis, a method of estimating co-occurrence beyond chance, was used on data from the 2002 NHIS (N ¼ 29,862) to identify possible sets of CAM use. Results: Most adults use CAM therapies from a single category. Approximately 20% of adults combined two CAM categories, with the combination of mind-body therapies and biologically based therapies estimated to be most common. Only 5% of adults use therapies representing three or more CAM categories. Combining therapies across multiple CAM categories was more common among those 46-64, women, whites, and those with a college education. Conclusions:The results of this study allow researchers to refine descriptions of CAM use in the adult population. Most adults do not use a wide assortment of CAM; most use therapies within a single CAM category. Sets of CAM use were found to differ by age, gender, ethnicity, and education in ways consistent with previous research.

Disease severity is associated with the use of complementary medicine to treat or manage type-2 diabetes: data from the 2002 and 2007 National Health Interview Survey

“…This is in contrast to the general population in 2007 (unpublished observation) where 41.4% of CM users used more than one type of therapy, or in 2002 or 1997 where, respectively, 33.4% [43] and 54% [44] of CM users used more than one type of therapy (as in the present analysis, these studies counted use of multiple NVNMDS or multiple diet-based therapies only once each).…”

A preliminary comparison of primary care use by refugees before and after acupuncture

“…Evidence suggests that Americans with greater disposable income have been more readily using acupuncture [3][4][5][6]. Thus, past studies have largely focused on utilization and efficacy for this population [2,[7][8][9].…”

Measuring differential beliefs in complementary therapy research: An exploration of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Beliefs Inventory (CAMBI)

“…An ethnically diverse sample of older adults provides a valuable opportunity to evaluate the CAMBI. Racial differences in the level of trust in conventional medicine held by older adults 11 and clear evidence indicating that CT use differs substantially by race and ethnicity 12,13 all portend substantial variation in beliefs about health and healing.…”