TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Immigrants
AU - Elewonibi, Bilikisu Reni
AU - BeLue, Rhonda
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Immigrants face barriers to accessing conventional health care systems. Hence, they are expected to have comparatively greater use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study examines the prevalence of and reason for CAM use in the U.S. population by citizenship status. Data on 34,483 U.S.-born, naturalized, and non-U.S. citizens from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey was used. CAM was categorized into four domains. Analyses controlling for socioeconomic variables were identified patterns of utilization and reasons for use. The prevalence of all CAM domains was lowest among non-U.S. citizens followed by naturalized citizens. The odds of using CAM were also higher for the immigrants who attained citizenship than for non-citizens. Individuals in all groups reported using more CAM for prevention. Factors related to cost, accessibility, or knowledge of CAM use may contribute to lower use of CAM by naturalized and non-U.S. citizens.
AB - Immigrants face barriers to accessing conventional health care systems. Hence, they are expected to have comparatively greater use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study examines the prevalence of and reason for CAM use in the U.S. population by citizenship status. Data on 34,483 U.S.-born, naturalized, and non-U.S. citizens from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey was used. CAM was categorized into four domains. Analyses controlling for socioeconomic variables were identified patterns of utilization and reasons for use. The prevalence of all CAM domains was lowest among non-U.S. citizens followed by naturalized citizens. The odds of using CAM were also higher for the immigrants who attained citizenship than for non-citizens. Individuals in all groups reported using more CAM for prevention. Factors related to cost, accessibility, or knowledge of CAM use may contribute to lower use of CAM by naturalized and non-U.S. citizens.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10903-015-0210-4
DO - 10.1007/s10903-015-0210-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84928619984
SN - 1557-1912
VL - 18
SP - 600
EP - 607
JO - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
JF - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
IS - 3
ER -
