. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Apr 1.

Published in final edited form as: Complement Ther Med. 2019 Feb 23;43:277–282. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.02.016

Table 1:

MIDUS “alternative medicines”, OTC medicine, pharmaceuticals, and their definitions and examples.

Label, code, and description	Common examples (% of use by study participants)
Alternative medications (B4XAM)
Include herbs, herbal blends (not including herbal teas), homeopathic remedies, and other alternative remedies. These may be purchased over the counter or they may be “prescribed” by a health care practitioner trained in a nonwestern tradition.	Fish Oil (10.68%) Miscellaneous (10.20%) Glucosamine/chondroitin (5.98%) Flaxseed oil (3.35%) Garlic (2.55%) CoQ10 (2.15%)
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications and products (B4XOM)
Include vitamins, minerals, non-prescription pain, antacids, anti-diarrheas, fiber, lubricating eye or nose preparations etc. that the subject uses regularly and can be purchased “Over the Counter” (OTC) without a prescription.	Misc. vitamins (29.7%) Aspirin (28.7%) Multivitamins (26.5%) Vitamin C (14.7%) Calcium with Vitamin D (12.5%) Calcium (12.0%)
Prescription medications (B4XPM)
Prescription pharmaceuticals	Lipitor (9.72%) Levothroid (8.61%) Simvastatin (7.97%) Hydrochlorothiazide (6.45%) Lisinopril (6.22%) Metformin (6.22%)