Changes among male and female visitors to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine in a large adult Norwegian population from 1997 to 2008 (The HUNT studies)

Abstract

Abstract Background The aim was to investigate changes in the prevalence and characteristics of male and female visitors to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a large adult population from 1997 to 2008. Methods Two cross sectional adult total population health surveys from Central Norwegian (the Nord-Trøndelag Health Studies (HUNT)). In 1997 42,277 and in 2008 50,713 respondents were included. Variables included demographics (age, education, working status), lifestyle (daily smoker, did hard physical activities), health status (self-rated health status, recent complaints, chronic complaints, psychiatric complaints, a range of diseases) and health care use (visit general practitioner, chiropractor). A test of difference between the results of multivariable logistic regression models for each year, including all variables, was used to analyse changes from 1997 to 2008. Results In 1997 9.4% (95%CI 9.1-9.6) of the population had visited a CAM practitioner in the last 12 months and this increased to 12.6% (12.3-12.9) in 2008 (p Conclusion The increase in visits was mainly among younger people of both genders with more limited complaints. A larger proportion of the more healthy part of the population is increasing their visits to CAM practitioners.

Keywords

• Complementary Therapies
• Norway
• Utilisation
• Population