A comparison of complementary and alternative medicine users and use across geographical areas: A national survey of 1,427 women

Adams, Jon, Sibbritt, David, Broom, Alex, Loxton, Deborah, Pirotta, Marie, Humphreys, John and Lui, Chi-Wai (2011) A comparison of complementary and alternative medicine users and use across geographical areas: A national survey of 1,427 women. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 11 : 85-1-85-8.


Author Adams, Jon
Sibbritt, David
Broom, Alex
Loxton, Deborah
Pirotta, Marie
Humphreys, John
Lui, Chi-Wai
Title A comparison of complementary and alternative medicine users and use across geographical areas: A national survey of 1,427 women
Journal name BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank C)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2011-10-07
Sub-type Article
DOI 10.1186/1472-6882-11-85
Volume number 11
ISSN 1472-6882
Start page 85-1
End page 85-8
Total pages 8
Place of publication London, United Kingdom
Publisher BioMed Central
Collection year 2012
Language eng
Formatted abstract Background: Evidence indicates that people who reside in non-urban areas have a higher use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than people who reside in urban areas. However, there is sparse research on the reasons for such differences. This paper investigates the reasons for geographical differences in CAM use by comparing CAM users from four geographical areas (major cities, inner regional, outer region, rural/remote) across a range of health status, healthcare satisfaction, neighbourhood and community factors.

Methods:  A cross-sectional survey of 1,427 participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) conducted in 2009.

Results: The average total cost of consultations with CAM practitioners was $416 per annum and was highest for women in the major cities, declining with increasing distance from capital cities/remoteness (p<0.001). The average total cost of self-prescribed CAM was $349 per annum, but this did not significantly differ across geographical areas. The increased use of CAM in rural and remote areas appears to be influenced by poorer access to conventional medical care (p<0.05) and a greater sense of community (p<0.05) amongst these rural and remote residents. In contrast to the findings of previous research this study found that health status was not associated with the differences in CAM use between urban and non-urban areas.

Conclusion: It appears that a number of factors influence the different levels of CAM use across the urban/non-urban divide. Further research is needed to help tease out and understand these factors. Such research will help support health care policy and practice with regards to this topic.
Q-Index Code C1
Q-Index Status Confirmed Code
Institutional Status UQ
Additional Notes Article number 85.

 
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Created: Sun, 09 Oct 2011, 19:27:46 EST by Debbie Lim on behalf of School of Social Science