Identifying Different Types of Complementary/Alternative Medicine Users: A latent Class Analysis

• In Event: 3129 - Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 7. Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Abstract

Most previous studies concerning CAM user characteristics make their conclusions based on comparisons between CAM users and nonuser. This analytical approach implies an untested assumption that there is only one single CAM user group with individual users deviating from a single average usage pattern. Focusing on who use what type of CAM and using Latent Class Analysis, this study aims to detect qualitatively different CAM user groups. With the 2012 US National Health Interview Survey data, this study finds four CAM user groups labeled as Open Explorers, Meditators, Symptom Manipulators, and Supplement Consumers and a Non-User group. The four CAM user groups have qualitatively different usage patterns and they consist of people with different characteristics. The results indicate that the user-vs-nonuser analytical approach employed by most previous study ignores the heterogeneity among CAM users. This study provides a better picture of CAM user groups, their usage patterns, motivations, as well as their different social, demographic, economic, health and health care related characteristics.

Author

• Juan Xi, University of Akron