Abstract
BackgroundThe aim was to investigate changes in the prevalence and characteristics of male and female visitors to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a large adult population from 1997 to 2008.MethodsTwo cross sectional adult total population health surveys from Central Norwegian (the Nord-Trøndelag Health Studies (HUNT)). In 1997 42,277 and in 2008 50,713 respondents were included. Variables included demographics (age, education, working status), lifestyle (daily smoker, did hard physical activities), health status (self-rated health status, recent complaints, chronic complaints, psychiatric complaints, a range of diseases) and health care use (visit general practitioner, chiropractor). A test of difference between the results of multivariable logistic regression models for each year, including all variables, was used to analyse changes from 1997 to 2008.ResultsIn 1997 9.4% (95%CI 9.1-9.6) of the population had visited a CAM practitioner in the last 12 months and this increased to 12.6% (12.3-12.9) in 2008 (p < 0.001 for difference). Prevalence of CAM use in females was almost twice as high as that in males both years. For males, the significant changes from 1997 to 2008 (p < 0.05) were an increase in odds of visiting for those under 50 years, who had a recent complaint, were widower or did hard physical activities. There was a decrease for males who had a university degree, psychiatric complaint or hay fever. For females there was an increase in the odds for those under 50 years, who had a recent complaint or chronic complaint. It was a decrease for females with reported fair global health, psychiatric complaint, hay fever or if they had visited a chiropractor.ConclusionThe increase in visits was mainly among younger people of both genders with more limited complaints. A larger proportion of the more healthy part of the population is increasing their visits to CAM practitioners.
Highlights
The aim was to investigate changes in the prevalence and characteristics of male and female visitors to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a large adult population from 1997 to 2008
In total 9.4% (95%CI 9.1-9.6, females 12.2%, males 6.1%) of the population visited a CAM practitioner in 1997 and this increased significantly (p < 0.001) to 12.6% (95%CI 12.3-12.9, females 16.2%, males 8.3%) in 2008
The bivariate analysis showed that for both males and females, having poorer self reported global health, higher anxiety and depression score (HADS-T), chronic or psychiatric complaint and having visited a chiropractor were the variables most strongly associated with visit to a CAM practitioner
Summary
The aim was to investigate changes in the prevalence and characteristics of male and female visitors to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a large adult population from 1997 to 2008. Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) are treatment modalities outside the dominant health care system. Several studies have investigated the reasons why people use these practices [1]. Issues such as control and participation, perceptions of illness, holism and natural treatments, and general philosophies of life have been found to be related to CAM use. There are a number of studies investigating the characteristics of CAM users. Based on data from larger cross sectional surveys, being middle aged, female and having higher education is often associated with CAM use [2]. There are several types of CAM use; visits to practitioners like homeopaths and acupuncturists, performing CAM self practices like yoga and self treatment with CAM products like herbs [3]
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