Women's Use of Alternative Medicine: A Multiethnic Study

描述（由申请人提供）：国家调查估计补充和替代医学（CAM）的广泛和日益增加的使用，其中包括多种愈合系统，治疗和技术。较高的社会经济地位（SES）指标，如较高的教育和收入水平，通常与更多的CAM使用相关。这些因素是否能一致预测不同类型CAM或少数民族人群的使用情况，尚未进行系统研究。影响SES-CAM关系的可能机制，如健康状况或文化适应，也值得进一步探讨。本研究将探讨白色、非裔-墨西哥裔和华裔美国妇女中SES与CAM使用之间的关系。首先，将研究CAM不同领域中CAM使用的总体种族-民族模式。然后，在四个种族-民族妇女群体中，拟议的研究将： 1.评估SES和CAM使用之间的关联，比较总体CAM使用和特定CAM域的使用， 2.测试健康状况和生物医学获取在SES和CAM使用之间的关系中的中介作用， 3.分析社交网络在SES-CAM关系中的不同影响， 4.评估文化适应在SES和CAM使用之间的关系中的调节作用（仅在墨西哥裔和华裔美国女性中）。 具体的CAM领域进行研究，包括物理疗法，身心疗法，维生素/营养补充剂，草药和药用茶，和文化愈合。还将检查CAM的总体使用情况。将使用一项全国性研究的数据对假设进行测试，该研究检查了四个种族-民族人群中妇女使用CAM的情况，该研究由国家儿童健康和人类发展研究所和国家补充和替代医学中心资助。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): National surveys have estimated widespread and increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which encompasses a multiplicity of healing systems, treatments, and techniques. Indicators of higher socioeconomic status (SES), such as greater levels of education and income, are factors commonly associated with greater CAM use. Whether these factors consistently predict use across different types of CAM or within minority populations has not been systematically explored. Possible mechanisms influencing the SES-CAM relationship, such as health status or acculturation, also warrant further exploration. The proposed study will explore the relationship between SES and the use of CAM among white, African- Mexican-, and Chinese-American women. First, the overall race-ethnic patterns of CAM use across different domains of CAM will be examined. Then, within each of the four racial-ethnic populations of women, the proposed study will: 1. Assess the association between SES and CAM use, comparing overall CAM usage and use of specific CAM domains, 2. Test the mediating effects of health status and access to biomedicine in the relationship between SES and CAM use, 3. Analyze the differential influence of social networks in the SES-CAM relationship, and 4. Evaluate the moderating effects of acculturation in the relationship between SES and CAM use (among Mexican- and Chinese-American women only). Specific CAM domains to be studied include physical therapies, mind-body therapies, vitamins/nutritional supplements, herbs and medicinal teas, and cultural healing. Overall use of CAM will also be examined. Hypotheses will be tested using data from a national study examining women's use of CAM in four racial-ethnic populations, which is funded through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.