| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Use of complementary medicine in older Americans
— results from the Health and Retirement Study | | Author(s) | Jose Ness, Dominic J Cirillo, David R Weir |
| Journal title | The Gerontologist, vol 45, no 4, August 2005 |
| Pages | pp 516-524 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Alternative medicine ; Diet ; Vitamins ; Usage [services] ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The correlates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among older people have not been fully investigated. To identify such correlates, this study used a sub-sample from the 2000 wave of the US Health and Retirement Study of 1099 people aged 52+. Of respondents aged 65+, 88% used CAM, with dietary supplements (65%) and chiropractic (46%) most commonly reported. Users of alternative practitioners and dietary supplements reported having more out-of-pocket expenses on health than non-users. Age correlated positively with use of dietary supplements and personal practices and inversely with alternative practitioner use. Men report less CAM use than women, except for chiropractic and personal practices. Blacks and Hispanics used fewer dietary supplements and less chiropractic, but they reported more personal practices than Whites. Advanced education correlated with fewer chiropractic visits and more dietary and herbal supplements and personal practices. Higher income, functional impairment, alcohol use and frequent physician visits correlated with more alternative practitioner use. There was no association between CAM and number of chronic diseases. The magnitude and patterns of CAM use among older people indicates a need for further epidemiological research and continuing awareness for patients and providers. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-070904214 A |
| Classmark | LK3: CFD: CFE: QLD: 3F: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|