Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How Different Are Users and Non-Users of Alternative Medicine?

  • Published:
Canadian Journal of Public Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether users and non-users of alternative medicine in the province of Quebec differ in terms of demographic characteristics, health profile or utilization of medical services.

Methods: The Quebec Health Insurance Board (QHIB) medical service records of the Quebec Health Survey (1987) respondents for the 12 months before the survey were linked with respondents’ survey answers. Those who saw an alternative medicine practitioner at their last professional consultation (the “users”, n=169) were matched by diagnosis and area of residence with those who saw a physician instead (the “non-users”, n=169).

Results: Users and non-users of alternative medicine differed in age, activity, education and income. After adjustment for age, education and income, the two groups had a similar health profile, but users of alternative medicine had made fewer medical visits in the previous year.

Conclusion: Alternative medicine attracts a particular clientele. More research is needed to understand the reasons people look to alternative therapies instead of conventional medicine.

Résumé

Objectif: Déterminer si les utilisateurs et les non utilisateurs de médecine alternative au Québec diffèrent quant à leurs caractéristiques démographiques, leur profil de santé et leur utilisation de services médicaux.

Méthodologie: Les dossiers de services médicaux de la Régie de l’assurance-maladie du Québec des répondants à l’Enquête Santé Québec (1987) pour les 12 mois précédant l’enquête ont été appariés à leurs réponses à l’enquête. Les personnes qui ont vu un praticien de médecine alternative (les “utilisateurs”) à leur dernière consultation professionnelle (n=169) ont été jumelées à celles (les “non utilisateurs”) qui ont vu un médecin (n=169).

Résultats: Les deux groupes se distinguent sur l’âge, l’activité, l’éducation et le revenu. En contrôlant pour l’âge, l’éducation et le revenu, les deux groupes ont un profil de santé semblable, mais les utilisateurs de médecine alternative ont visité moins souvent les médecins dans l’année précédente.

Conclusion: Les médecines alternatives attirent une clientèle particulière. Plus de recherche est requise pour comprendre pourquoi certaines personnes utilisent les médecines alternatives plutôt que la médecine conventionnelle.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Murray RH, Rubel AJ. Physicians and healers–unwitting partners in health care. N Engl J Med 1992;326:61–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Eisenberg DM, Kessler RC, Foster C, et al. Unconventional medicine in the United States. Prevalence, costs, and patterns of use. N Engl J Med 1993;328:246–52.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fulder SJ, Munro RE. Complementary medicine in the United Kingdom: practitioners and consultations. Lancet 1985;2:542–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Le Groupe MultiRéso. Enquête sur les thérapies alternatives pour le Ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux. Montréal, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ministry of Health and Environmental Protection. Alternative medicine in the Netherlands: Summary of the Report of the Commission for Alternative System of Medicine. Leidschendam, the Netherlands: Ministry of Health and Environmental Protection, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Northcott HC, Bachynsky JA. Concurrent utilization of chiropractic, prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines and alternative health care. Soc Sci Med 1993;37:431–35.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Verhoef MJ, Sutherland LR, Brkich L. Use of alternative medicine by patients attending a gas-troenterology clinic. Can Med Assoc J 1990;142:121–25.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Verhoef MJ, Russell ML, Love EJ. Alternative medicine use in rural Alberta. Can J Public Health 1994;85:308–9.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. McGuire MB. Ritual Healing in Suburban America. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cassileth BR, Lusk EJ, Strouse TB, et al. Contempory unorthodox treatments in cancer medicine: a study of patients, treatments, and practitioners. Ann Intern Med 1984;101:105–12.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Andersen RM. Revisiting the behavioral model and access to medical care: Does it matter? J Health Soc Behav 1995;36:1–10.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Hulka BS, Wheat JR. Patterns of utilization: the patient perspective. Med Care 1985;23:438–60.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Courtemanche R, Tarte F. Plan de sondage de l’Enquête Santé Québec. Cahier technique 87-02. Québec: Enquête Santé Québec, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Enquête Santé Québec. Et la santé, ça va? Rapport de l’Enquête Santé Québec, tome 1, Québec, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Béland F. Costs of ambulatory care over the long term in the Quebec medicare system. Can J Aging 1995;14:391–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. World Health Organization (WHO). International classification of diseases, 9th revision, Geneva: WHO, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Belloc NB, Breslow L, Hochstim JR. Measurement of physical health in general population survey. Am J Epidemiol 1971;35:328–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Schar A, Messerli-Rohrbach V, Schubarth P. Conventional or complementary medicine: What criteria for choosing do patients use? Schweiz Med Wochenschr Suppl 1994;62:18–27.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Shekelle PG, Brook RH. A community-based study of the use of chiropractic services. Am J Public Health 1991;81:439–42.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Watt J, Wood C (eds.). Talking Health: Conventional and Complementary Approaches. London: Royal Society of Medicine, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé, Université de Montréal, C.P.6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Régis Blais PhD, Aboubacrine Maïga MD, MSc & Alarou Aboubacar MD, MSc

Authors
  1. Régis Blais PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aboubacrine Maïga MD, MSc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alarou Aboubacar MD, MSc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Régis Blais PhD.

Additional information

This study was supported by a grant from the Quebec Fonds pour la Formation des chercheurs et l’aide à la recherche (FCAR) and the National Health Research and Development Program, Health and Welfare Canada, through a National Health Scholarship to the first author.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Blais, R., Maïga, A. & Aboubacar, A. How Different Are Users and Non-Users of Alternative Medicine?. Can J Public Health 88, 159–162 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403880

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403880

Search

Navigation