CAM trends
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Almost 68% of 2,049 survey respondents reported lifetime use of at least one CAM therapy, with an average of 3.03 therapies per user, according to data published in the Aug. 21 Annals of Internal Medicine. Phone survey conducted between November 1997 and February 1998 by Ronald Kessler, PhD, et al., Harvard University, finds continued use of a specific therapy in the 12 months before interview was 47% among treatments begun five to 10 years prior to interview, 48.8% for therapies begun 11-20 years earlier, and 45.7% for therapies started more than 20 years before. Findings suggest "slightly fewer than half of lifetime users continued to use CAM therapies in any given year throughout their life course," researchers conclude. The study is part of a special series on CAM in Annals (1"The Tan Sheet" May 28, p. 8)