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Research Article| Volume 13, ISSUE 2, P83-89, February 1997

Use of alternative therapies: Estimates from the 1994 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Access to Care Survey

  • L. Clark Paramore
    Correspondence
    Address reprint requests to: L. Clark Paramore, MSPH, Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs, 7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
    Affiliations
    Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Open AccessDOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-3924(96)00299-0
Use of alternative therapies: Estimates from the 1994 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Access to Care Survey
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      Abstract

      This study sought to update national estimates of the use of alternative therapies, to improve the quality of those estimates, and to examine differences between users and nonusers of alternative medicine. Data were analyzed from the general probability sample (N = 3450) of the 1994 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Access to Care Survey. The results indicate that nearly 10% of the U.S. population, almost 25 million persons, saw a professional in 1994 for at least one of the following four therapies: chiropractic, relaxation techniques, therapeutic massage, or acupuncture. Even though users of alternative therapies made almost twice as many visits to conventional (or orthodox) medical providers as nonusers made, the former still reported much higher levels of unmet need for medical care. The growing emphasis on market-driven health care and consumer choice suggests that alternative therapies could have a larger role in the health-care system of the future.

      Keywords

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      Article info

      Publication history

      Accepted: June 27, 1996

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-3924(96)00299-0

      Copyright

      © 1997 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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