Use of Curanderismo in a public health care system

Background: Curanderismo ("the healing") is a centuries-old synthesis of Me xican Indian culture and beliefs. Objective: To evaluate the rate of use of curanderismo among, Hispanic subj ects seeking medical care at the Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Cole . Methods: We conducted a survey of 405 Hispanic subjects attending outpatien t primary and urgent care clinics at Denver Health Medical Center, the publ ic hospital system for Denver. The main outcome measure was in dependent pr edictors of use of curanderos. Results: Of the 405 subjects, 118 (29.1%) (95% confidence interval, 20.9-37 .3) had been to a curandero at some time in their lives. Of all the subject s, 91.3% knew what a curandero was. Univariate analyses demonstrated an ass ociation between those who had been to a curandero and level of income, lev el of education, and whether the subject was bilingual. The results of fitt ing a stepwise logistic regression model revealed an independent associatio n with subjects who had been to a curandero and revel of household income ( > $20 000 vs < $10 000), with an odds ratio of 2.19 (95% confidence interva l, 1.20-4.01) (P=.01), and level of education (post-high school vs elementa ry school), with an odds ratio of 3.16 (95% confidence interval, 1.45-6.86) (P=.004). Conclusions: Many Hispanic patients who receive their health care at a publ ic hospital system use the services of curanderos. This potentially has imp ortant implications for their health care.