Profile of minority and under-served patients using acupuncture.
BACKGROUND
Acupuncture use remains common in the United States, yet little is known of its utilization by minority and underserved populations. Herein we report first visit data capturing patient profiles, types of conditions presented, and self-reports of their experience and satisfaction with acupuncture accessed at a free care clinic with in a large urban safety net hospital.


METHODS
Sixty-one adult, English-speaking acupuncture patients were given a 20 min survey after their first visit to a free care acupuncture clinic.


RESULTS
Patients were from 12 different countries. Fifty-six percent of the participants were minorities. Sixty-five percent of respondents were female. Average age was 42.1. Eighty percent were acupuncture naïve. Patients' health complaints were similar to those of other surveyed mainstream patients with 57% reporting musculoskeletal conditions. Ninety-three percent would recommend a friend or family for acupuncture, 97% rating their overall experience with the acupuncture clinic as either very good or good.


CONCLUSIONS
When made available to a diverse population of patients, acupuncture is utilized and perceived to be helpful. In this survey, patients sought treatment for musculoskeletal conditions and were satisfied with their first visit. Future research is warranted.
Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Ellen.highfield@bmc.org
Ellen Silver
ES
Highfield
Lisa
L
Spellman
Linda L
LL
Barnes
Ted J
TJ
Kaptchuk
Gabrielle
G
Paradis
Lisa Ann
LA
Conboy
Robert
R
Saper
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D009819:Office Visits; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D014505:Urban Population