Chronic Pain Study: Guess Which Alternative Therapy Is Most Popular?

Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu · 2011-11-02T03:43:15+00:00

Chronic pain affects 116 million Americans and, unfortunately, finding the remedy to this pain is not always simple. Just ask any of the millions who take the traditional pain medications and still cant shake their aches. For that reason, many people turn to alternative medicine, although these helpful methods are not accessible to everyone. In a recent study, researchers looked at nearly 6,000 patients of various backgrounds who suffer from chronic pain. Overall, they found that 35 percent of these patients turned to alternative therapy to help cope with their pain. A full 25 percent underwent manipulation therapy, such as chiropractic work. To a lesser extent, 13 percent attended relaxation training, while 8.3 percent tried acupuncture. The study found that people who used alternative medicines were on average younger and more highly educated. Most often, they had tried traditional pain-relief methods and were unhappy with the results before turning to the less conventional therapies. The most alarming finding is that a large portion of the chronic pain patients were interesting in pursuing alternative medicine, but were unable to do so. As many insurance plans do not cover nontraditional therapies, the less affluent patients could not afford to try these other methods. The researchers advocate finding ways to make pain-relieving therapies such as chiropractic work and acupuncture more accessible to people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Alternative Medicine Popular Among Chronic Pain Patients Summary This study was performed to assess the relationship among factors such as socioeconomic status, age, sex, education and medical condition, and the use of complementary and alternative medicine (also known as CAM). The study involved around 5,750 patients with chronic pain; the alternative medical therapies that were used were acupuncture, relaxation/biofeedback therapy and manipulation therapy, such as chiropractic work. It was found that at least 35 percent of the patients used alternative therapies. Educational status, severity of pain and duration of pain played a part in the choice of CAM. Introduction Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) consists of medical therapeutics other than traditional medication. There is an increasing demand for CAM today. Selection of CAM has been related to health of patients and factors such as the philosophy and ideology on which the conventional medicine is based. It has also been noted that most studies related to CAM do not assess the physical, psychosocial and medical reasons for patients seeking these therapies. Various factors such as age, race, gender, education, marital status and ability to tolerate pain determine initiation of CAM therapeutics. This study was done to ascertain the above factors and their relationship with the initiation of CAM. Methodology * The study was performed by assessing the database of 5,750 Caucasian and African-American adult patients who had had chronic pain and were admitted to a pain center between 1994 and 2000. * From the database, each patient had to choose the best type of CAM that he had experienced. * Factors such as age, martial status, disability, mental status, income and the characteristics of the pain that the participants experienced were also analyzed. Results * About 8.3 percent of the patients had used acupuncture, 13.0 percent had used relaxation training, and 24.9 percent of them had used manipulation therapy prior admission at the pain center. * The use of CAM increased with higher educational status and improper pain care in conventional medicine. African-Americans used comparatively less manipulation and biofeedback/relaxation services than Caucasians. * CAM users were found to have poorer physical and mental health when compared with those who didnt use CAM. Shortcomings/Next steps In this study, the databases were mostly collected for clinical use and not for the actual study. There were limitations on the choice of CAM modalities. The difference in the knowledge of various CAM terminologies among the patients could have been misleading. Personal beliefs such as spirituality could have altered the study and led to a bias. Thus, the authors suggest that further studies be done with regard to CAM. Conclusion CAM therapies are gaining popularity as an option for the treatment of chronic pain. This study has reported a high CAM service utilization over a span of six years. Most people using CAM were younger, educated and dissatisfied with prior treatment modalities for pain. The decision to opt for CAM was highly dependent on the educational status of people and insurance coverage. African-Americans were found to use CAM less. This study has identified the need for insurance coverage on a few CAM services for those living with chronic pain. As these patients have a substantial loss of income, it is necessary that out-of-pocket expenses be kept minimal. Future CAM studies need to be done, looking for markers to delayed access to pain care.

Thread starter Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu
Start date Nov 2, 2011

Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu

JamiiForums uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.

Accept Learn more…

Back

Top Bottom

Forums

New posts

Chronic Pain Study: Guess Which Alternative Therapy Is Most Popular?

Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu

JF-Expert Member

Our Community

Regional Communities