Acupuncture use in the United States: findings from the National Health Interview Survey.
OBJECTIVE
Acupuncture has become an important provider-based complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment. To improve understanding of its role in personal health care, an analysis of national data was conducted to examine user sociodemographics, conditions treated, and the relationship of use with conventional Western medical care.


METHODS
A nationally representative cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
The 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.


METHODS
Thirty-one-thousand and forty-four (31,044) adults who completed the NHIS Sample Adult Core.


METHODS
The primary outcome measure was recent use of acupuncture, defined as use within the previous 12 months.


RESULTS
In the 2002 NHIS sample, 4.1% of the respondents reported lifetime use, and 1.1% (representing 2.13 million Americans) reported recent use of acupuncture. Recent use (n = 327) was positively associated with being an Asian female, living in the West or Northeast, having poorer self-reported health status, a higher level of education, and being an ex-smoker. Among recent users, the most typical treatment regimen was two to four treatments (34.5%), with musculoskeletal complaints being the most frequently reported conditions, led by back pain (34.0%). Reports of perceived benefit were generally high. Respondents indicated that acupuncture was used both as an alternative and as a complementary therapy. A reasonable number also reported being referred to acupuncture by a conventional medical professional (25.3%). The cross-sectional nature of the data precluded analysis of transitions in health care use (between conventional and CAM treatments) over time.


CONCLUSIONS
Utilization of acupuncture was somewhat lower than expected given its significant national and international recognition and its visibility in the media. This may in part be a function of provider availability and cultural factors.
Burke
Adam
A
Institute for Holistic Healing Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA. aburke@sfsu.edu
Upchurch
Dawn M
DM
Dye
Claire
C
Chyu
Laura
L
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology