Study Finds People of All Walks Using Alternative Care
Filed Under: Health Issues on November 26, 2010
by Aaron Turpen, Hidden Health Science
A study published in BMC Health Services Research found that there is no discernible factor in deciding which adults forgo conventional medical care and choose alternatives. The study found that those using alternative medical treatment options rather than mainstream medical options were not doing so based on socio-economics, insurance coverage, or similar reasons.
The study found that 19.3% of adults did not use conventional care in the 12 month study period despite 39.5% of those having one or more problems with their health. Of those not using conventional care, 24.8% used alternative medicine.
Those alternative medicine users generally had more health needs and were more likely to delay or forgo conventional care for both cost and non-cost factors compared to those not using alternatives.
The study also found that one predisposing factor to medical alternatives were education and gender. The more educated the person was, the more likely they would use an alternative with females being more likely than males.
The data used in the research study were collected throughout the United States (all 50) and involved 31,044 adults.
