Alternative/complementary medicine: Wider usage than generally appreciated

Objective: To test the hypothesis that there is substantial use of a practi tioner of alternative/complementary medicine by patients traditionally cons idered to be underserved. Design: Cross-sectional, self-administered survey study. Settings: Three university hospital-affiliated general ambulatory clinics s erving patients of different socioeconomic status and racial origin. Subjects: Five hundred and thirty-six (93% of those attending) consecutive clinic attendees. Outcome Measures: Past use and desired future use of one or more practition ers of five modalities of alternative/complementary medicine and willingnes s to pay for these modalities out-of-pocket. Results: Past usage and desired future usage of one or more practitioners o f alternative/complementary medicine was comparable at the three clinic sit es despite wide differences in socioeconomic status and willingness/ability to pay out-of-pocket for these services. Multivariable analyses revealed l ower self-rated health status and female gender (both p < 0.006) but not in come, race, age or education as independent, significant predictors of use of a practitioner of alternative/complementary medicine. Conclusion: Usage of alternative/complementary medicine is not confined to any well-circumscribed socioeconomic group and is common in patients often considered to be underserved. Self-assessed lower health status is signific antly and independently associated with use of a practitioner of alternativ e/complementary care.