use of CAM in US

[Guest guest]

from:

 

Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and

alternative medicine use among adults: United States 2002. Advance

Data from Vital and Health Statistics 2004 May 27;343:1-20.

 

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Use Among Adults: United States, 2002

Patricia M. Barnes, M.A., and Eve Powell-Griner, Ph.D., Division of

Health Interview Statistics; and

Kim McFann, Ph.D., and Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D., M.P.H., National

Center for Complementary and

Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health

 

Abstract

Objective—This report presents selected estimates of complementary and

alternative medicine (CAM) use among U.S. adults, using data from the

2002

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted by the Centers for

Disease

Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics

(NCHS).

Methods—Data for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population were

collected using computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI). This

report is based

on 31,044 interviews of adults age 18 years and over. Statistics

shown in this report

were age adjusted to the year 2000 U.S. standard population.

Results—Sixty-two percent of adults used some form of CAM therapy during

the past 12 months when the definition of CAM therapy included prayer

specifically

for health reasons. When prayer specifically for health reasons was

excluded from

the definition, 36% of adults used some form of CAM therapy during

the past 12

months. The 10 most commonly used CAM therapies during the past 12

months

were use of prayer specifically for one’s own health (43.0%), prayer

by others for

one’s own health (24.4%), natural products (18.9%), deep breathing

exercises

(11.6%), participation in prayer group for one’s own health (9.6%),

meditation

(7.6%), chiropractic care (7.5%), yoga (5.1%), massage (5.0%), and

diet-based

therapies (3.5%).

 

 

You can read the details in the entire report. Note that acupuncture

is not even on this list. At the time of the data collection, it had

been used by about 1% of the population, that after two decades of

practitioners marketing to their patients. Some groups are throwing

around figures like 70% CAM usage in the US, but that is mostly

prayer for oneself or others. BTW, Naturopathy had a .2% usage rate

and ayurveda .1%. The largest subset was the use of herbs and other

non-vitamin/mineral supplements. However,they are clearly not being

purchased as a result of consultation with a licensed practitioner.

 

 

Here is quote from David Eisenberg in a USA Today article that is

about 2 years old:

 

" Overall use of alternative medicine has stayed about the same for 14

years, says panel member David Eisenberg of Harvard Medical School,

who did the first large survey on the issue in 1990. But herbal

product use jumped 50% from 1997 to 2002. "

 

 

The quote above is from a 2005 study. Eisenberg is the author of the

landmark study on CAM usage that result in the founding of the office

of alt med within NIH. Yet despite 10 years of research since its

founding to this article, there has been no change in total usage.

One change is a big spike in herb purchases, but not from providers,

rather from stores and the Internet. And this spike has taken income

away from other usage during the same period. This means that there

is a limited pool of people who use CAM and if they spend their money

on one modality, they do not spend it on another. There is no more

recent data on CAM usage in the US, so anyone who claims to be aware

of more recent trends in the past five years that contradict this

data should provide sources to back it up. This article suggests that

CAM is sought out by certain personality types and this may be a

primary driving factor. The only data I am aware of that seems to

suggest increasing acupuncture use is an increase in the number of

claims to insurance companies for this service in recent years.

However, this may be misleading. Since more companies now offer

limited coverage of acupuncture services, claims are bound to go up.

This does not mean usage has increased, just that more practitioners

are seeking third-party compensation for patients who used to pay out

of pocket. It would also appear that while new patients explore

acupuncture every year, just as many stop using it, thus maintaining

the status quo.