Prevalence and associated factors with traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in Brazil: A population-based study

Abstract

The prevalence and use of Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) varies according to sociodemographic factors and health condition. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of TCIM use and its association with self-perceived health status, depression and sociodemographic factors. We used data from the Brazilian National Survey (PNS 2019), a population-based study, with complex and probabilistic sampling method. There were 94,114 participants with complete information about the use of TCIM. All participants answered a questionnaire containing sociodemographic, clinical data and information about their TCIM use during the last 12 months. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depression. All variables were categorized. Logistic regression models were performed to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). The prevalence of any type of TCIM use was 5.3% (95%CI: 5.0% - 5.6%). Among TCIM users, medicinal plants and phytotherapy (57.2%), acupuncture (26.3%), and homeopathy (17.0%) were the most frequently used. In the adjusted analysis, the variables associated with higher prevalence of TCIM use were: female gender, being older than 29 years old, being White, higher socioeconomic and educational status, living in a rural area and in the Northern region of the country. Poorer self-reported health status and depression were also associated with TCIM use. In Brazil, despite the expansion of TCIM in the public health system over the last few years did not reflect a higher use in the general population.