title: Military report more complementary and alternative medicine use than civilians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study objective was to estimate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among active duty military and compare data with civilian use.
  
  
  METHODS
  A global survey on CAM use in the 12 previous months was conducted. Final participants (16,146) were stratified by gender, service, region, and pay grade. Analysis included prevalence of CAM use, demographic and lifestyle characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 45% of respondents reported using at least one type of CAM therapy. Most commonly used therapies were as follows: prayer for one's own health (24.4%), massage therapy (14.1%), and relaxation techniques (10.8%). After exclusion of prayer for one's own health, adjusting to the 2000 U.S. census, overall CAM use in the military (44.5%) was higher than that in comparable civilian surveys (36.0% and 38.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Military personnel reported using three CAM stress-reduction therapies at 2.5-7 times the rate of civilians. Among the military, high utilization of CAM practices that reduce stress may serve as markers for practitioners assessing an individual's health and well-being.
authors: Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, IA 52803, USA. christine.goertz@palmer.edu
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Goertz
authors: Bernadette P
authors: BP
authors: Marriott
authors: Michael D
authors: MD
authors: Finch
authors: Robert M
authors: RM
authors: Bray
authors: Thomas V
authors: TV
authors: Williams
authors: Laurel L
authors: LL
authors: Hourani
authors: Louise S
authors: LS
authors: Hadden
authors: Heather L
authors: HL
authors: Colleran
authors: Wayne B
authors: WB
authors: Jonas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States