McIntyre Erica, Adams Jon, Foley Hope, Harnett Joanna, Leach Matthew J, Reid Rebecca, Schloss Janet, Steel Amie
1 Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia.
2 Endeavour College of Natural Health, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia.
J Altern Complement Med. 2019 Feb;25(2):181-188. doi: 10.1089/acm.2018.0309. Epub 2018 Oct 10.
To report the prevalence of naturopathic and Western herbal medicine service utilization in Australia, and describe the characteristics of individuals who use these services.
This is a national cross-sectional study.
Online survey platform.
Purposive convenience sampling was used to recruit 2025 adults who were matched to Australian population demographics by gender, age, and state of residence.
A survey instrument consisting of 50 items covering demographics, health service utilization, health status, health literacy, and medicine disclosure to complementary health care providers.
The prevalence, frequency, and cost of naturopathy and Western herbal medicine consultations and sociodemographic characteristics of users of naturopathic and Western herbalist services and associations between these factors.
The final data set included 2019 participants: 6.2% (n = 126) consulted a naturopath and 3.8% (n = 76) a Western herbalist. These health services were most commonly used to improve well-being. An average of AUD$102.67 and AUD$49.64 was spent per user on consultations with naturopaths and Western herbalists, respectively, in the previous year. The most prevalent users were those between 18 and 29 years of age (39.3%), in a relationship (51%), employed (70%), and held a bachelor degree or higher (40.5%). Some degree of financial difficulty was reported by 65.4% of users. Having a chronic illness (p < 0.01) and using both conventional and complementary medicines (p = 0.05) were both associated with using naturopathic or Western herbal medicine services. Less than 40% of participants disclosed their use of conventional medicines to Western herbalists.
Naturopathy and Western herbal medicine services are used by a substantial number of Australian adults who also use conventional health services. Accordingly, research is needed to determine how these health professions can be better integrated into mainstream health care settings to improve patient-practitioner communication and safety related to the use of these health services.
报告澳大利亚自然疗法和西方草药医学服务的使用情况，并描述使用这些服务的个人特征。
这是一项全国性横断面研究。
在线调查平台。
采用目的便利抽样法招募了2025名成年人，这些人在性别、年龄和居住州方面与澳大利亚人口统计数据相匹配。
一份包含50个条目的调查问卷，内容涵盖人口统计学、医疗服务使用情况、健康状况、健康素养以及向补充医疗服务提供者披露用药情况。
自然疗法和西方草药医学咨询的患病率、频率和费用，以及自然疗法和西方草药医学服务使用者的社会人口学特征，以及这些因素之间的关联。
最终数据集包括2019名参与者：6.2%（n = 126）咨询过自然疗法医生，3.8%（n = 76）咨询过西方草药医学医生。这些医疗服务最常用于改善健康状况。前一年，自然疗法医生和西方草药医学医生的使用者人均咨询费用分别为102.67澳元和49.64澳元。最常见的使用者是年龄在18至29岁之间的人（39.3%）、处于恋爱关系中的人（51%）、就业者（70%）以及拥有学士学位或更高学历的人（40.5%）。65.4%的使用者报告存在一定程度的经济困难。患有慢性病（p < 0.01）以及同时使用传统药物和补充药物（p = 0.05）均与使用自然疗法或西方草药医学服务相关。不到40%的参与者向西方草药医学医生披露了他们使用传统药物的情况。
大量同时使用传统医疗服务的澳大利亚成年人使用自然疗法和西方草药医学服务。因此，需要开展研究以确定如何更好地将这些医疗专业整合到主流医疗环境中，以改善患者与从业者之间关于使用这些医疗服务的沟通和安全性。
