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. 2018 Oct 19;18(1):281.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-018-2342-2.

Complementary and alternative medicine use among persons with multiple chronic conditions: results from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey

Justice Mbizo  1 , Anthony Okafor  2 , Melanie A Sutton  3 , Bryan Leyva  4 , Leauna M Stone  3 , Oluwadamilola Olaku  5   6
Affiliations

Complementary and alternative medicine use among persons with multiple chronic conditions: results from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey

Justice Mbizo et al. BMC Complement Altern Med. .

Abstract

Background: Although a quarter of Americans are estimated to have multiple chronic conditions, information on the impact of chronic disease dyads and triads on use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is scarce. The purpose of this study is to: 1) estimate the prevalence and odds of CAM use among participants with hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity; and 2) examine the effects of chronic condition dyads and triads on the use of CAM modalities, specifically manipulative and body-based methods, biological treatments, mind-body interventions, energy therapies, and alternative medical systems.

Methods: Data were obtained from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey and the Adult Alternative Medicine supplement. Statistical analyses were restricted to persons with self-reported hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, diabetes, or obesity (n = 15,463).

Results: Approximately 37.2% of the participants had just one of the four chronic conditions, while 62.4% self-reported multiple comorbidities. CAM use among participants was as follows (p < 0.001): hypercholesterolemia (31.5%), hypertension (28.3%), diabetes (25.0%), and obesity (10.8%). All combinations of disease dyads and triads were consistently and significantly associated with the use of mind-body interventions (2-4%, p < 0.001). Two sets of three dyads were associated with use of manipulative methods (23-27%, p < 0.05) and energy therapies (0.2-0.3%, p < 0.05). Use of biological treatments (0.04%, p < 0.05) and alternative systems (3%, p < 0.05) were each significant for one dyad. One triad was significant for use of manipulative methods (27%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: These findings point to future directions for research and have practical implications for family practitioners treating multimorbid patients.

Keywords: Chronic disease; Comorbidity; Complementary and alternative medicine; Diabetes; Hypercholesterolemia; Hypertension; Integrative medicine; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the University of West Florida’s Institutional Review Board for Human Research Participants Protection (UWF IRB #2018–187). Informed consent was deemed unnecessary during IRB review due to the use of secondary data from a nationally-administered survey and available for public use at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/data-questionnaires-documentation.htm

Consent for publication

Not applicable [This manuscript does not contain data from any individual person.]

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institutes of Health or any other government agency.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overall and Individual Disease-Specific Rates of CAM Use. Overall: [Yes = Used CAM of any kind regardless of disease condition; No = Did not use CAM]; For individual disease conditions: [Yes = Used CAM and had the disease; No = Used CAM but did not have the disease]; Significance levels: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CAM Use by Disease Dyads. [Yes = Used CAM and had the disease dyad; No = Used CAM but did not have the disease dyad]; Disease Dyads: ChoBp = Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertension; ChoDiab = Hypercholesterolemia and Diabetes; ChoOb = Hypercholesterolemia and Obesity; BpDiab = Hypertension and Diabetes; BpOb = Hypertension and Obesity; DiabOb = Diabetes and Obesity; Significance levels: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
CAM Use by Disease Triads. [Yes = Used CAM and had the disease triad; No = Used CAM but did not have the disease triad]; Disease Triads: ChoBpDiab = Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertension and Diabetes; ChoBpOb = Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertension and Obesity; ChoDiabOb = Hypercholesterolemia and Diabetes and Obesity; BpDiabOb = Hypertension and Diabetes and Obesity; Significance levels: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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