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Most Older Adults Use
Alternative Healthcare
A Reuters Health News release on April 11, 2005 reported
on a new study that shows that more than 70 percent of
adults aged 50 or older use some type of non medical
care that the report referred to as "alternative
therapy". The author of the study, Dr. Gong-Soog Hong,
who is based at Ohio State University in Columbus, noted
that she was surprised to see so many older adults
turning to alternative treatments, "The percentage of
older adults who used alternative medicine was higher
than I expected."
Dr. Hong and her team used data from the 2000 Health and
Retirement Survey, conducted by the University of
Michigan and funded mainly by the National Institute on
Aging. The article noted that many of the people who
were turning to non-medical forms of care were in poor
health and did not get help from medical care. When
asked why so many were turning to alternative care, Dr.
Hong responded, "So when conventional medicine cannot
give you an answer, sometimes you turn to alternatives."
The study involved interviews of 848 people aged 50 and
above about their use of chiropractic, acupuncture,
massage therapy, breathing exercises, herbal medicine
and meditation. The results showed that 71% percent of
respondents said they had tried at least one of the six
types of alternative therapy. The most popular remedy
was chiropractic care, used by 43 percent of older
adults. The research showed that the least used type of
care on the list was acupuncture. Dr. Hong theorized
that this might well be because few insurance companies
cover it.
Respondents to the survey said they were more likely to
use one of the forms of care if their health was poor
and their daily activity was affected. Of those who
described their health as poor, 65 percent said they
considered the alternative care as preventive or
curative. This represents a higher percentage than among
the general population. Additionally, about 63 percent
of respondents said that one of the reasons for their
choice was that they were not satisfied with their
medical health care.
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