Table 2.
Self-help practices
| Self-help practices used in the past year | Used (n, (%))** | Motivation* | Helpfulness* yes or somewhat (%) | % Who tell doctor* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute illness (%) | Long-term illness (%) | Health maintenance (%) | Other (%) | ||||
| Pain relief pads | 170 (32.8%) | 37.1 | 33.8 | 12.6 | 16.6 | 86.6 | 26.7 |
| Massage (by self or family) | 166 (32.0%) | 21.0 | 29.4 | 33.6 | 16.1 | 87.4 | 12.6 |
| Praying for own health | 95 (18.3%) | 7.7 | 32.1 | 46.2 | 14.1 | 45.9 | 1.5 |
| Attending traditional healing ceremony (temples, shrines, etc.) for health | 87 (16.8%) | 1.2 | 32.1 | 50.6 | 16.0 | 28.6 | 1.6 |
| Massage device | 85 (16.4%) | 11.0 | 26.0 | 45.2 | 17.8 | 79.7 | 16.9 |
| Dietary therapy | 58 (11.2%) | 3.9 | 39.2 | 52.9 | 3.9 | 84.1 | 41.0 |
| Wearing talisman for health or recovery | 56 (10.8%) | 4.5 | 29.5 | 47.7 | 18.2 | 50.0 | 5.7 |
| Electrotherapy device (not massage) | 48 (9.2%) | 19.0 | 31.0 | 38.1 | 11.9 | 78.0 | 17.6 |
| Hot-spring therapy | 41 (7.9%) | 8.1 | 21.6 | 62.2 | 8.1 | 76.3 | 9.4 |
| Yoga | 28 (5.4%) | 0 | 3.8 | 84.6 | 11.5 | 72.0 | 9.1 |
| Aromatherapy | 25 (4.8%) | 0 | 30.4 | 34.8 | 34.8 | 85.7 | 5.6 |
| Tai Chi/Qigong | 5 (1.0%) | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 100 | 33.3 |
| Moxibustion | 4 (0.8%) | 25.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 0 | 75.0 | 0 |
| Zen/meditation | 4 (0.8%) | 0 | 50.0 | 0 | 50.0 | 66.7 | 0 |
| Cupping | 3 (0.6%) | 0 | 33.3 | 0 | 66.7 | 100 | 100 |
| Other | 7 (1.3%) | 16.7 | 50.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 100 | 66.7 |
*Valid percentages are reported; when a participant indicates visitation or use, they are asked but not required, to answer subsequent questions on motivation, helpfulness, and whether or not they told their physician about use (sometimes resulting in different n-value).
**Denominator is total study respondent number of 519.