The utilisation of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among ethnic minorities in South Korea

Jung Hye Hwang,Eun Kyung Yoo,Dong Woon Han,Woon-Yong Kim

doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-103

Abstract

BackgroundRace has been reported to affect the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but there is very little research on the use of CAM by ethnicity in Korea. This study explores the prevalence of CAM use among ethnic minorities in South Korea.MethodsThe design is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. A convenience sample of ethnic minorities was recruited from two public healthcare centres in Gyeonggi province. The survey instrument included 37 questions regarding CAM use, factors influencing use of CAM, self-health management, and the socio-demographic profile of study participants.ResultsSixty-two percent of study participants reported the use of CAM. Multivitamins (53.3%), acupuncture (48.9%), and traditional Korean herbal medicine (38.9%) were popular CAM modalities in our sample. Other notable CAM modalities included herbal plants, therapeutic massage, and moxibustion therapy. The majority of CAM users (52.2%) received CAM services to treat diseases or as a secondary treatment while receiving conventional care. Having positive perceptions toward the effectiveness of CAM was a major determining factor in CAM use.ConclusionsPhysicians need to be aware of the fact that many ethnic minorities use CAM therapies. Many CAM users reported that they want doctors to know about their CAM use and have a basic understanding of traditional medicine in their home country. Overcoming language and cultural barriers will help reduce unwanted medical complications. High prevalence of CAM use among ethnic minorities in our study warrants further studies using larger sample population.

Highlights

Race has been reported to affect the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but there is very little research on the use of CAM by ethnicity in Korea
As the first study to focus on CAM use among ethnic minority groups in South Korea, our study explored the prevalence of CAM use and factors influencing the decision to use CAM modalities
We identified whether CAM receives public support using the following criteria: countries that use public funds in support of schools of traditional medicine, countries that actively participate in CAM research and development, and countries where a large sum of medical expenditure is used on consumption of CAM modalities

Summary

Introduction

Race has been reported to affect the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but there is very little research on the use of CAM by ethnicity in Korea. In studies in the United States, While earlier studies shed a light on the potential disparity in access to CAM services among ethnic minorities, the findings from these studies are not fully convincing because they use nationally representative data that do not oversample ethnic minorities, possibly leading to overgeneralised results [5,8,9]. Using a smaller national data set that oversamples minorities, Mackenzie et al has shown that CAM use in ethnic minority groups was not different compared to non-Hispanic Whites [8]. This was possibly because oversampled minorities in the survey allowed a better representation of CAM users within that group. Hsiao et al [9] found that CAM use varied within ethnic minority groups, and each ethnic group had certain types of CAM modalities that were favoured over others

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Conclusion