Analysis reveals a significant rise in use of complementary health approaches, especially for pain management

An evaluation performed by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being’s Nationwide Middle for Complementary and Integrative Well being (NCCIH) reveals a considerable improve within the general use of complementary well being approaches by American adults from 2002 to 2022. The research, published in JAMA, highlights a surge within the adoption of complementary well being approaches for ache administration over the identical interval.

Researchers utilized knowledge from the 2002, 2012, and 2022 Nationwide Well being Interview Survey (NHIS) to guage adjustments in the usage of seven complementary well being approaches, together with yoga, meditation, therapeutic massage remedy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, naturopathy, and guided imagery/progressive muscle rest.

The important thing findings embrace:

• The proportion of people who reported utilizing at the least one of many seven approaches elevated from 19.2% in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022.
• The usage of yoga, meditation, and therapeutic massage remedy skilled probably the most important development from 2002 to 2022.
• Use of yoga elevated from 5% in 2002 to fifteen.8% in 2022.
• Meditation turned probably the most used method in 2022, with a rise from 7.5% in 2002 to 17.3% in 2022.
• Acupuncture, more and more lined by insurance coverage, noticed a rise from 1% in 2002 to 2.2% in 2022.
• Moreover, the evaluation confirmed a notable rise within the proportion of U.S. adults utilizing complementary well being approaches particularly for ache administration. Amongst members utilizing any of the complementary well being approaches, the proportion reporting use for ache administration elevated from 42.3% in 2002 to 49.2% in 2022.

Regardless of the findings, the authors acknowledge research limitations, together with lowering NHIS response charges over time, doable recall bias, cross-sectional knowledge, and variations in survey wording.

The research additionally highlights the position of things comparable to larger high quality analysis supporting the efficacy of complementary well being approaches, the inclusion of those approaches in medical apply pointers for ache, and the expanded insurance coverage protection for approaches comparable to acupuncture, which has contributed to elevated affected person entry.