Sixty-nine percent of people 50 years or older who use complementary and alternative medicine do not mention it to their physicians, according to a survey conducted by AARP and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices and products that are not considered to be part of conventional medicine. It includes such products and practices as herbal supplements, meditation, homeopathy and acupuncture.
A telephone survey, administered to a nationally representative group of 1,559 people aged 50 years or older, examined conversations between patients and their physicians regarding CAM use. The most frequently cited reasons for why doctor-patient dialogue was lacking were doctors never asked (42 percent), patients did not know they should discuss it (30 percent) and there was not enough time during the office visit (19 percent). Additional barriers included respondents’ perceptions that doctors were unwilling to discuss CAM therapies or would react negatively to disclosure of CAM use.
The study also found other communication differences across demographic groups. Men who had seen a doctor were more likely than women to not discuss CAM because their doctors never asked (46 percent versus 38 percent). Women were more likely than men to have discussed CAM use (26 percent versus 16 percent) and what types of therapies to use (70 percent versus 51 percent). In addition, people with incomes of $75,000 or higher (31 percent) or $25,000 to $49,999 (25 percent) frequently discussed CAM use with doctors.
Nearly three-fourths of respondents said they take one or more prescription medications, and 59 percent of respondents said they take one or more over-the-counter medications. Twenty percent of respondents reported taking more than five prescription medications.
The high number of prescription and over-the-counter medications used by this group underscores the need for consumers and physicians to discuss all therapies, including CAM.
"An open dialogue between consumers and their physicians is critical to ensuring safe and appropriate integrated care," said Margaret A. Chesney, PhD, deputy director, NCCAM.
