Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) comprises a diverse set of healing philosophies, therapies, and products (1). Over the last decade, theU.S. public has shown a steady and substantial use of complementary and alternative medicine, with 2007 estimates placing overall prevalence of use at 38.3% of adults (83 million persons) and 11.8% of children (8.5 million children under age 18 years) (2). The most recent national estimates of out-of-pocket expenditures for CAM therapies are now more than a decade old (3). In their 1997 telephone survey, Eisenberg et al (3) contacted a nationally representative sample of 2,055 individuals aged 18 years or older, with a weighted response rate of 60%. At that time, the total out-of-pocket expenditure for CAM use in adults was estimated at $27.0 billion per year, with $12.2 billion of the total going toward payment of CAM professionals such as acupuncturists, chiropractors, and massage therapists.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) comprises a diverse set of healing philosophies, therapies, and products (1). Over the last decade, theU.S. public has shown a steady and substantial use of complementary and alternative medicine, with 2007 estimates placing overall prevalence of use at 38.3% of adults (83 million persons) and 11.8% of children (8.5 million children under age 18 years) (2). The most recent national estimates of out-of-pocket expenditures for CAM therapies are now more than a decade old (3). In their 1997 telephone survey, Eisenberg et al (3) contacted a nationally representative sample of 2,055 individuals aged 18 years or older, with a weighted response rate of 60%. At that time, the total out-of-pocket expenditure for CAM use in adults was estimated at $27.0 billion per year, with $12.2 billion of the total going toward payment of CAM professionals such as acupuncturists, chiropractors, and massage therapists.
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