Cheung Corjena K, Wyman Jean F, Halcon Linda L
Department of Nursing, The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA.
J Altern Complement Med. 2007 Nov;13(9):997-1006. doi: 10.1089/acm.2007.0527.
Although complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States, knowledge regarding complementary and alternative therapy use in older adults is limited. The purposes of this study were to (1) assess the prevalence and patterns of CAM use in a probability-based sample of older adults; (2) describe the characteristics of older CAM users; and (3) identify factors associated with complementary and alternative medicine use/nonuse.
A cross-sectional survey design was used. An age-stratified sample of community-dwelling adults ages>or=65 (N=1200) was randomly selected from the Minnesota Driver's License/Identification Tape using names from the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area. The mailed questionnaire included items on demographics, health status, health care utilization, CAM modality use, reasons for use, costs, and complementary and alternative therapy use satisfaction. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and regression analysis were performed.
Overall, 62.9% (N=445) of the respondents reported use of one or more complementary and alternative medicine modalities with an average of three modalities (SD+/-1.9, range 1-11). The top five CAM modalities used were nutritional supplements (44.3%), spiritual healing/prayer (29.7%), megavitamins (28.3%), herbal supplements (20.7%), and chiropractic (17.8%). Maintaining health and treating a health condition were the primary reasons for CAM use. The most common conditions treated were arthritis (44.4%) and chronic pain (23.5%). Demographic variables were not significantly different between CAM users and nonusers. CAM users reported more unhealthy days than nonusers did. Overall satisfaction with CAM use was high (80%). Symptoms of a health problem and desire for personal control over health motivated CAM use. The main barriers to CAM use were lack of reason to use and knowledge about CAM. Only 53% of users disclosed CAM use to their primary care providers.
CAM use is common in older adults, especially those with health problems. The widespread use of oral supplements combined with not disclosing CAM use to primary care providers is a concern.
尽管补充和替代医学（CAM）在美国的使用日益普遍，但关于老年人使用补充和替代疗法的知识仍然有限。本研究的目的是：（1）在基于概率抽样的老年人样本中评估补充和替代医学的使用 prevalence 和模式；（2）描述老年补充和替代医学使用者的特征；（3）确定与补充和替代医学使用/不使用相关的因素。
采用横断面调查设计。从明尼苏达州驾照/身份识别磁带中，使用双城七县大都市区的名字，随机抽取年龄≥65岁的社区居住成年人的年龄分层样本（N = 1200）。邮寄的问卷包括有关人口统计学、健康状况、医疗保健利用、补充和替代医学模式使用、使用原因、费用以及补充和替代疗法使用满意度的项目。进行了描述性统计、卡方检验和回归分析。
总体而言，62.9%（N = 445）的受访者报告使用了一种或多种补充和替代医学模式，平均使用三种模式（标准差±1.9，范围1 - 11）。使用最多的五种补充和替代医学模式是营养补充剂（44.3%）、精神治疗/祈祷（29.7%）、多种维生素（28.3%）、草药补充剂（20.7%）和脊椎按摩疗法（17.8%）。维持健康和治疗健康状况是使用补充和替代医学的主要原因。治疗的最常见疾病是关节炎（44.4%）和慢性疼痛（23.5%）。补充和替代医学使用者与非使用者之间的人口统计学变量没有显著差异。补充和替代医学使用者报告的不健康天数比非使用者多。对补充和替代医学使用的总体满意度较高（80%）。健康问题的症状和对个人健康控制的渴望促使人们使用补充和替代医学。使用补充和替代医学的主要障碍是缺乏使用理由和对补充和替代医学的了解。只有53%的使用者向其初级保健提供者透露了使用补充和替代医学的情况。
补充和替代医学在老年人中很常见，尤其是那些有健康问题的人。口服补充剂的广泛使用以及未向初级保健提供者透露补充和替代医学的使用情况令人担忧。
