Table 3.
Health Conditions in Past Year: Prevalence, Treatments Used, and Disclosure to Medical Doctor
| Health condition | % with condition | No treatmenta% | Treatment, no CAMa,b% | Used CAM, no MDa% | Used CAM, saw MDa% | Disclosed CAM use to MDc% | Most popular CAM domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back pain | 41.3 | 35.4 | 30.9 | 20.5 | 13.3 | 80.6 | Chiropractic, manual therapies, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| Joint pain or arthritis | 37.7 | 28.2 | 42.7 | 11.7 | 17.4 | 82.4 | Vitamins/nutritional supplements, manual therapies, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| Headaches | 32.8 | 12.6 | 56.7 | 16.5 | 14.2 | 84.3 | Chiropractic, yoga/meditation/tai ji, manual therapies |
| Insomnia | 27.8 | 54.8 | 27.3 | 10.7 | 7.2 | 70.5 | Herbs/teas, vitamins/nutritional supplements, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| Weight loss | 20.9 | 68.9 | 14.3 | 9.9 | 6.9 | 89.9 | Vitamins/nutritional supplements, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| High blood pressure | 19.6 | 15.5 | 69.5 | 2.4 | 12.7 | 67.7 | Special diets, herbs, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| High cholesterol | 15.3 | 51.3 | 39.2 | 1.9 | 7.6 | 95.6 | Chiropractic, special diets |
| Urinary tract/vaginal infections | 14.4 | 7.3 | 82.9 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 79.7 | Vitamins/nutritional supplements, herbs, special diets |
| Depression | 11.0 | 11.0 | 66.2 | 5.4 | 17.5 | 85.3 | Herbs/teas, vitamins/nutritional supplements, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| Osteoporosis | 7.3 | 18.7 | 58.3 | 4.8 | 18.2 | 100.0 | Vitamins/nutritional supplements, yoga/meditation/tai ji, acupuncture |
| Heart disease | 4.6 | 23.0 | 67.2 | 0 | 9.8 | 100.0 | Yoga/meditation/tai ji, vitamins/nutritional supplements, special diets |
| Uterine fibroids | 3.9 | 76.5 | 14.1 | 2.5 | 6.9 | 84.6 | Homeopathy, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| Cancerd | 3.8 | 25.3 | 59.8 | 0 | 15.0 | 73.5 | Vitamins/nutritional supplements, special diets, homeopathy |
| Pregnancy-related conditionse | 49.1 | 42.2 | 15.7 | 23.7 | 18.4 | 52.0 | Herbs/teas, vitamins/nutritional supplements, yoga/meditation/tai ji |
| Menopausal symptomse | 32.8 | 50.8 | 16.5 | 14.0 | 18.7 | 63.8 | Soy, vitamin E, calcium, vitamins/nutritional supplements |
| Menstrual symptomse | 50.7 | 35.3 | 43.7 | 16.1 | 4.9 | 91.0 | Herbs/teas, homeopathy, vitamins/nutritional supplements |
Percents based on women with health condition.
CAM, complementary and alternative medicine; CAM use defined as use of any one of 11 domains (religion, spirituality, or prayer excluded) in the past year.
Percents based on women who used CAM and saw an MD for the health condition.
Women with cancer diagnosed up to 5 years prior to the study were asked about health practices used during the year prior to the survey.
Percents based on those eligible for the condition (i.e., women under 45 who reported being pregnant in the past year for pregnancy-related conditions; women over 40 who were not pregnant in the past year for menopausal symptoms; and women 55 or under for menstrual symptoms).