Zhang Anthony L, Xue Charlie C L, Lin Vivian, Story David F
Division of Chinese Medicine, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, P.O. Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Oct;1114:204-15. doi: 10.1196/annals.1396.032.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by Australians is substantial and increasing, but little is known about its use by the elderly. We here present the findings for the elderly cohort in our recently conducted national survey on CAM use by adult Australians. In May and June 2005, computer-assisted telephone interviews, using random-digit telephone dialing, were employed to gather data on CAM use in the last 12 months. Of 1067 adult participants interviewed, 178 were 65 or older. More than half of these (57.8%; 95% CI, 50.7%-64.9%) had used at least one of 17 common forms of CAM and 60.4% of the CAM users had consulted CAM practitioners. Clinical nutrition, chiropractic, massage therapy, meditation, and herbal medicine were the most common forms of CAM used by the elderly. A higher proportion of the elderly had always used both CAM and conventional medical treatments (37.9%) than had those aged 18-34 (15.7%) and 35-64 (26.9%). Elderly CAM users (60.2%) were more likely than younger users to discuss their use with their doctors. Of those who did not do so, 24.1% were not asked by their doctors and 16.0% considered that their doctor would disapprove. In conclusion, we found that a substantial proportion of older Australians use CAM. The elderly are also more likely than younger adults to discuss their use of CAM with their doctors, but doctors need to play a more active role in initiating such communication.
澳大利亚人对补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用相当普遍且呈上升趋势，但对于老年人使用CAM的情况却知之甚少。在此，我们展示在最近针对成年澳大利亚人使用CAM情况所开展的全国性调查中，老年人群体的相关调查结果。2005年5月和6月，采用随机数字拨号的计算机辅助电话访谈方式，收集过去12个月内CAM使用情况的数据。在接受访谈的1067名成年参与者中，有178人年龄在65岁及以上。其中超过半数（57.8%；95%置信区间，50.7%-64.9%）使用过17种常见CAM形式中的至少一种，且60.4%的CAM使用者咨询过CAM从业者。临床营养、脊椎按摩疗法、按摩治疗、冥想和草药是老年人最常用的CAM形式。与18-34岁（15.7%）和35-64岁（26.9%）的人群相比，更高比例的老年人一直同时使用CAM和传统医学治疗（37.9%）。老年CAM使用者（60.2%）比年轻使用者更有可能与医生讨论他们使用CAM的情况。在那些未与医生讨论的人中，24.1%是因为医生未询问，16.0%是因为他们认为医生会不赞成。总之，我们发现相当比例的澳大利亚老年人使用CAM。老年人也比年轻人更有可能与医生讨论他们对CAM的使用情况，但医生需要在发起此类沟通方面发挥更积极的作用。
