What Accounts for the Appeal of Complementary/Alternative Medicine, and What Makes Complementary/Alternative Medicine "Alternative"?

Swartzman, Leora C.; Harshman, Richard A.; Burkell, Jacquelyn; Lundy, Margaret E.

doi:10.1177/027298902236943

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For people with severe LBP, turning to CAM may seem a better alternative due to its more conservative, noninvasive nature as compared to more conventional medical treatments such as epidural steroid injections, surgeries, and prescriptive medications—all which may carry higher risks than CAM treatments. 22 Alter natively, those with severe pain may have exhausted all other possibilities and may be looking for any possibility of relief. It may be important for policymakers to consider methods of improving access to CAM for individuals with poor health because of the potential of noninvasive, low-risk CAM options to manage their health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in the US Adult Low Back Pain Population

Ghildayal

Johnson

Evans

et al. 2016

Glob Adv Health Med

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Background:Many people suffering from low back pain (LBP) have found conventional medical treatments to be ineffective for managing their LBP and are increasingly turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to find pain relief. A comprehensive picture of CAM use in the LBP population, including all of the most commonly used modalities, is needed.Study Objective:To examine prevalence and perceived benefit of CAM use within the US LBP population by limiting vs nonlimiting LBP and to evaluate the odds of past year CAM use within the LBP populationMethods:Data are from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, Alternative Health Supplement. We examined a nationally representative sample of US adults with LBP (N=9665 unweighted). Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of past year CAM use.Results:In all, 41.2% of the LBP population used CAM in the past year, with higher use reported among those with limiting LBP. The most popular therapies used in the LBP population included herbal supplements, chiropractic manipulation, and massage. The majority of the LBP population used CAM specifically to treat back pain, and 58.1% of those who used CAM for their back pain perceived a great deal of benefit.Conclusion:The results are indicative of CAM becoming an increasingly important component of care for people with LBP. Additional understanding of patterns of CAM use among the LBP population will help health professionals make more informed care decisions and guide investigators in development of future back pain–related CAM research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in the US Adult Low Back Pain Population

Ghildayal

Johnson

Evans

et al. 2016

Glob Adv Health Med

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“…For health care providers, understanding the motivations behind a patient’s use of CM may assist in the design of an optimal treatment plan [53]. The fact that users of CM appear willing to take active control of their health [54-56], suggests that this group of individuals with diabetes may well be open to additional recommendations toward managing their disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Nahin

Byrd-Clark

Stussman

et al. 2012

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundThe overall prevalence of complementary medicine (CM) use among adults in the United States with diabetes has been examined both in representative national samples and in more restricted populations. However, none of these earlier studies attempted to identify predictors of CM use to treat diabetes among the populations sampled, nor looked for a relationship between CM use and diabetes severity.MethodsCombining data from the 2002 and 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we constructed a nationally representative sample of 3,978 U.S. adults aged ≥18 years with self-reported diabetes. Both the 2002 and 2007 NHIS contained extensive questions on the use of CM. We used logistic regression to examine the association between diabetes severity and overall CM use, as well as the use of specific categories of CM.ResultsIn adults with type-2 diabetes, 30.9% used CM for any reason, but only 3.4% used CM to treat or manage their type-2 diabetes versus 7.1% of those with type-1 diabetes. Among those using CM to treat/manage their type-2 diabetes, 77% used both CM and conventional prescription medicine for their diabetes. The most prevalent types of CM therapies used were diet-based interventions (35.19%, S.E. 5.11) and non-vitamin/non-mineral dietary supplements (33.74%, S.E. 5.07). After controlling for sociodemographic factors, we found that, based on a count of measures of diabetes severity, persons with the most severe diabetes had nearly twice the odds of using CM as those with less severe disease (OR=1.9, 95%CI 1.2-3.01). Persons who had diabetes 10 years or more (OR=1.66, 95%CI 1.04-3.66) and those that had a functional limitation resulting from their diabetes (OR=1.74, 95%CI 1.09-2.8) had greater odds of using CM than those not reporting these measures. No significant associations were observed between overall CM use and other individual measures of diabetes severity: use of diabetic medications, weak or failing kidneys, coronary heart disease, or severe vision problems.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that individuals with more severe diabetes are more likely to use CM independent of sociodemographic factors. Further studies are essential to determine if CM therapies actually improve clinical outcomes when used to treat/manage diabetes.

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“…In addition, for the 2012 questionnaire, literature searches were employed specifically to inform questionnaire design related to reasons and motivations for using complementary therapies, such as for wellness or well-being, as well as questions asking about insurance coverage [35-40]. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched, and additional references were suggested by outside experts attending a workshop on wellness (Section Wellness workshop) and members of a think tank (Section Research topic think tank) to identify research priorities for the 2012 questionnaire.…”

Section: Literature Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PubMed and Google Scholar were searched, and additional references were suggested by outside experts attending a workshop on wellness (Section Wellness workshop) and members of a think tank (Section Research topic think tank) to identify research priorities for the 2012 questionnaire. Wellness-related reasons identified in the literature for why individuals use complementary therapies include physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being, nutrition and lifestyle, and to avoid pharmaceuticals [35-40]. …”

Section: Literature Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The interviewer protocol contained questions to elicit reasons or motivations for using complementary therapies without presupposing it was to treat a specific condition. In particular - and in keeping with the published literature [35,36,38-40] - respondents were asked about changes noted in “mind or body” when using complementary therapies. Interviewing focused on how respondents who identified “wellness” and “well-being” as their main reason for using complementary therapies understood and conceptualized these terms.…”

Section: Cognitive Interviewingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of the adult and child complementary medicine questionnaires fielded on the National Health Interview Survey

Stussman

Bethell

Gray

et al. 2013

BMC Complement Altern Med

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The 2002, 2007, and 2012 complementary medicine questionnaires fielded on the National Health Interview Survey provide the most comprehensive data on complementary medicine available for the United States. They filled the void for large-scale, nationally representative, publicly available datasets on the out-of-pocket costs, prevalence, and reasons for use of complementary medicine in the U.S. Despite their wide use, this is the first article describing the multi-faceted and largely qualitative processes undertaken to develop the surveys. We hope this in-depth description enables policy makers and researchers to better judge the content validity and utility of the questionnaires and their resultant publications.

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What Accounts for the Appeal of Complementary/Alternative Medicine, and What Makes Complementary/Alternative Medicine "Alternative"?

Cited by 13 publications

References 46 publications

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in the US Adult Low Back Pain Population

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in the US Adult Low Back Pain Population

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

Development of the adult and child complementary medicine questionnaires fielded on the National Health Interview Survey

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