Researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) have completed the first analysis of the use of complementary health approaches in a nationally representative sample of adults over a long period of time. The analysis provides insights into the use of four common complementary approaches over nearly two decades and identifies specific factors that may predict new, continued, or discontinued use. The analysis, which was funded by NCCIH, was recently published inThe Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Previous studies have found that certain factors are associated with the use of complementary health approaches. For instance, people who use them are more likely to be female and younger than 65 years of age, have multiple chronic health conditions, and have a higher socioeconomic status than nonusers. However, past studies have not determined what factors are associated with use of complementary approaches over a long period of time and how they are related to starting, continuing, or stopping an approach. |