Table 2.
Reported Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies Used by at Least 5% of Active Duty Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Personnel in the 12 Months Prior to the Survey by Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Characteristics
| Characteristic | Any CAM therapy typea | Prayer for your own health | Massage therapy | Relaxation techniques | Herbal medicine | High-dose megavitamins | Art/music therapy | Exercise/movement therapy | Chiropractic | All other CAM therapy typesa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall prevalence % (±SEM) | 46.1 (1.02) | 24.4 (0.60) | 14.1 (0.59) | 10.8 (0.58) | 8.9 (0.47) | 8.4 (0.40) | 7.7 (0.45) | 6.8 (0.32) | 5.2 (0.46) | 15.7 (0.58) 0.4 (0.7)–4.6 (0.25)a |
| Weighted sample estimate | 443,264 | 237,259 | 136,962 | 105,602 | 86,817 | 81,701 | 75.251 | 65,857 | 50,188 | 67,585 3,784–44,622a |
| Gender (p-value) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (NS) | (***) | (***) | (*) | (***) |
| Male | 43.2 (1.01) | 22.6 (0.65) | 12.2 (0.57) | 9.6 (0.52) | 8.2 (0.46) | 8.2 (0.40) | 7.3 (0.49) | 5.2 (0.28) | 4.9 (0.44) | 14.1 (0.57) |
| Female | 63.3 (1.39) | 35.0 (0.93) | 24.6 (1.18) | 18.0 (1.20) | 13.3 (0.99) | 9.3 (1.05) | 10.2 (0.65) | 15.6 (0.88) | 6.7 (0.96) | 24.7 (1.21) |
| Age (p-value) | (***) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) | (*) | (*) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) |
| ≤29 | 43.5 (1.15) | 21.5 (0.54) | 13.8 (0.68) | 10.4 (0.75) | 8.3 (0.67) | 7.8 (0.48) | 9.5 (0.65) | 7.2 (0.44) | 4.6 (0.42) | 16.0 (0.79) |
| 30–39 | 49.2 (1.26) | 27.0 (1.15) | 14.8 (1.01) | 11.3 (0.79) | 9.4 (0.56) | 9.1 (0.73) | 4.2 (0.40) | 6.2 (0.52) | 6.0 (0.84) | 14.3 (0.86) |
| 40+ | 53.7 (1.40) | 34.4 (1.04) | 13.6 (0.95) | 12.1 (0.91) | 11.1 (0.71) | 9.8 (0.83) | 6.1 (0.63) | 6.0 (0.56) | 6.4 (0.75) | 16.8 (0.88) |
| Race/ethnicityb (p-value) | (***) | (***) | (*) | (NS) | (*) | (**) | (**) | (NS) | (**) | (*) |
| White/non-Hispanic | 45.1 (1.32) | 21.0 (0.66) | 14.4 (0.65) | 11.0 (0.70) | 9.0 (0.60) | 8.9 (0.50) | 7.0 (0.58) | 6.5 (0.40) | 5.8 (0.58) | 15.1 (0.71) |
| Black/non-Hispanic | 48.9 (1.29) | 36.9 (1.29) | 11.4 (0.95) | 9.2 (0.82) | 7.5 (0.66) | 6.3 (0.73) | 7.5 (0.65) | 6.2 (0.66) | 3.3 (0.45) | 15.4 (0.97) |
| Hispanic | 43.9 (1.25) | 23.5 (1.11) | 14.3 (1.20) | 10.9 (1.09) | 8.0 (0.83) | 6.8 (0.86) | 9.8 (0.97) | 7.3 (0.68) | 3.9 (0.55) | 15.3 (1.25) |
| Otherb | 50.5 (1.68) | 25.9 (1.37) | 16.4 (1.64) | 12.5 (1.07) | 11.7 (1.49) | 10.5 (0.94) | 11.0 (1.07) | 8.9 (1.07) | 5.6 (0.96) | 20.5 (1.33) |
| Education (p-value) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (**) | (**) | (***) | (***) |
| High school | 35.9 (1.43) | 17.0 (0.82) | 9.5 (0.70) | 7.8 (0.66) | 6.6 (0.68) | 5.0 (0.53) | 8.6 (0.78) | 5.1 (0.50) | 3.2 (0.44) | 13.4 (0.77) |
| Some college–no degree | 50.1 (1.18) | 27.3 (0.91) | 15.4 (0.75) | 12.1 (0.73) | 9.6 (0.69) | 9.6 (0.58) | 8.4 (0.55) | 7.4 (0.40) | 6.1 (0.65) | 17.8 (0.78) |
| 4-year college (BA, BS or equivalent) | 46.8 (1.90) | 24.7 (1.20) | 16.5 (1.32) | 10.9 (1.38) | 10.2 (1.49) | 11.3 (1.34) | 5.3 (0.97) | 7.8 (0.96) | 5.7 (0.89) | 13.2 (1.09) |
| Graduate study | 58.8 (1.29) | 33.6 (1.14) | 19.6 (1.22) | 14.2 (1.21) | 11.7 (0.78) | 10.7 (0.90) | 5.1 (0.83) | 8.2 (0.96) | 6.6 (0.91) | 16.1 (0.89) |
| Body–mass index (BMI)c (p-value) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) | (**) | (**) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) |
| <25.0 | 46.6 (1.22) | 24.1 (0.87) | 14.9 (0.83) | 11.3 (0.74) | 8.2 (0.60) | 6.8 (0.49) | 8.7 (0.54) | 7.7 (0.65) | 4.8 (0.49) | 15.9 (0.81) |
| 25.0–29.9 | 46.2 (1.53) | 23.9 (0.96) | 13.7 (0.78) | 10.2 (0.75) | 9.5 (0.64) | 9.7 (0.60) | 7.3 (0.55) | 5.9 (0.38) | 5.3 (0.61) | 14.9 (0.82) |
| ≥30.0 | 45.2 (1.62) | 26.2 (1.25) | 13.4 (1.14) | 10.6 (1.19) | 8.7 (0.90) | 8.9 (0.84) | 6.1 (0.87) | 6.6 (0.79) | 5.7 (0.99) | 17.5 (1.12) |
| Physical activityc (p-value) | (***) | (*) | (***) | (***) | (NS) | (*) | (**) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) |
| None | 35.2 (2.58) | 18.6 (1.71) | 10.0 (0.92) | 5.8 (0.96) | 7.2 (1.00) | 4.6 (0.89) | 5.5 (0.86) | 3.0 (0.60) | 5.1 (0.91) | 11.4 (1.79) |
| Less than moderate | 46.2 (1.60) | 25.7 (1.39) | 13.5 (0.74) | 9.2 (0.69) | 8.1 (0.76) | 7.5 (0.85) | 6.4 (0.71) | 5.2 (0.50) | 6.4 (0.68) | 14.7 (0.83) |
| Moderate | 48.6 (1.22) | 25.5 (0.89) | 14.7 (0.61) | 12.0 (0.83) | 9.7 (0.56) | 8.6 (0.67) | 8.2 (0.78) | 6.9 (0.48) | 4.9 (0.60) | 16.4 (0.90) |
| Vigorous | 45.9 (1.15) | 23.8 (0.82) | 14.8 (1.10) | 11.6 (0.91) | 8.8 (0.77) | 9.7 (0.64) | 8.3 (0.64) | 8.5 (0.72) | 4.9 (0.58) | 16.1 (0.95) |
| Cigarette smoking (p-value) | (NS) | (**) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) |
| Never | 47.7 (1.06) | 26.9 (0.79) | 13.8 (0.65) | 10.8 (0.64) | 8.8 (0.54) | 8.0 (0.57) | 7.2 (0.50) | 7.1 (0.46) | 4.8 (0.54) | 14.8 (0.64) |
| Former | 48.8 (1.46) | 27.1 (1.45) | 14.5 (0.83) | 11.3 (1.06) | 10.6 (0.96) | 10.2 (0.85) | 5.1 (0.57) | 7.0 (0.97) | 6.1 (0.85) | 17.0 (1.00) |
| Current | 42.5 (1.46) | 19.2 (0.91) | 14.4 (0.84) | 10.7 (0.82) | 8.5 (0.83) | 8.4 (0.77) | 9.8 (0.84) | 6.1 (0.67) | 5.4 (0.51) | 16.4 (1.07) |
| Alcohol intake in last 30 days(p-value) | (***) | (***) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) | (***) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) | (NS) |
| Never | 50.2 (1.61) | 31.5 (1.42) | 11.6 (0.90) | 10.3 (0.85) | 8.3 (0.69) | 7.0 (0.61) | 7.0 (0.67) | 7.1 (0.67) | 4.6 (0.61) | 16.5 (1.06) |
| 1–3 times/month | 47.2 (1.07) | 25.2 (1.01) | 13.7 (0.76) | 11.8 (0.80) | 8.9 (0.55) | 8.3 (0.63) | 7.8 (0.75) | 7.4 (0.52) | 5.7 (0.64) | 16.4 (0.89) |
| ≥4 times/month | 43.5 (1.23) | 20.0 (0.68) | 16.0 (0.74) | 10.5 (0.68) | 9.4 (0.73) | 9.4 (0.55) | 8.3 (0.58) | 6.0 (0.51) | 5.0 (0.48) | 19.7 (0.83) |
P-values: (NS)=Not significant; (*)=< 0.05; (**)=< 0.01; (***)=< 0.001.
CAM types with at least 5% prevalence of use. All Other CAM Types is composed of the remaining CAM therapy types with a prevalence of use <5% combined details of which can be obtained from the first author. Any CAM Therapy Type includes the prevalence of use of any therapy regardless of type. Range of weighted sample size and prevalence are provided for the other therapy types.
See footnotes in Table 1 for definitions.
Moderate Physical Activity: Any activity that burns 3.5 to 7 kcal/min or the equivalent of 3 to 6 metabolic equivalents (METs) and results in achieving 60%–73% percent of peak heart rate: walking briskly, mowing the lawn, dancing, swimming, or bicycling on level terrain. Vigorous Physical Activity: Any activity that burns more than 7 kcal/min or the equivalent of 6 or more metabolic equivalents (METs) and results in achieving 74 to 88 percent of peak heart rate: jogging, mowing the lawn with a non-motorized push mower, chopping wood, participating in high impact aerobic dancing, swimming continuous laps, or bicycling uphill.
SEM, standard error of the mean; CAM, complementary and alternative medicine.