Recorded presentation

Laura Chyu, MA and Dawn M. Upchurch, PhD. Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Dr., CHS 21-236A, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310-794-9391, lchyu@ucla.edu

Women are the primary consumers of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), with recent trends suggesting increase of use in the U.S. In national studies, women-specific prevalence estimates are often not provided, and sampling procedures may limit generalizability of findings. Using data from the 1999 National Health Interview Survey, we provide prevalence estimates of recent CAM use among American women and examine sociodemographic characteristics that may be associated with use. We employed three operational definitions of CAM use: any CAM, type-specific, and domain-specific use. Sociodemographic characteristics analyzed include age, race/ethnicity, nativity, education, annual family income, region of residence, health insurance status, and self-rated health status. A multivariate logistic regression was conducted for any CAM use. All analyses were weighted and variance estimates adjusted to account for complex sample design. Results indicate that 33.5% of American women used CAM in the past year, with approximately half using only one type of CAM. The two most common types of CAM used are spiritual healing/prayer (17.2%) and herbal medicine (12.1%). A multivariate logistic regression of any CAM use indicates that use is significantly associated with each sociodemographic factor except for insurance status. Being older, being foreign-born, having less than 12 years of education, and having lower household income are significantly associated with lower odds of CAM use. In comparison to whites, black, Hispanic, and Asian have significantly lower odds of CAM use. This study provides a comprehensive portrayal of CAM use among American women by using multiple measures of CAM and examining sociodemographic dimensions.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the prevalence and patterns of CAM use among women in the U.S. using different operational definitions of CAM use.
• Discuss the association of key sociodemographic variables and CAM use among American women.
• Compare prevalence estimates of CAM use with other national studies.
• Recognize future directions in CAM research to refine current knowledge.

Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation