title: Complementary and alternative medicine use by visitors to rural Japanese family medicine clinics: results from the international complementary and alternative medicine survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is growing interest in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) throughout the world, however previous research done in Japan has focused primarily on CAM use in major cities. The purpose of this study was to develop and distribute a Japanese version of the International Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (I-CAM-Q) to assess the use of CAM among people who visit rural Japanese family medicine clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a Japanese version of the International Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (I-CAM-Q), a cross-sectional survey was conducted in three rural family medicine clinics. All patients and those accompanying patients who met inclusion criteria were eligible to participate. Data were entered into SPSS Statistics and analyzed for use by age, gender, and location.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 519 respondents who participated in the project, 415 participants reported CAM use in the past 12 months (80.0%). When prayer is excluded, the prevalence of CAM use drops to 77.3% in the past year, or 403 respondents. The most common forms of CAM used by respondents were pain relief pads (n = 170, 32.8%), herbal medicines/supplements (n = 167, 32.2%), and massage by self or family (n = 166, 32.0%). Female respondents, individuals with higher levels of education, and those with poorer overall health status were more likely to use CAM than respondents without these characteristics. Only 22.8% of CAM therapies used were reported to physicians by survey participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data indicate that CAM use in rural Japan is common. The results are consistent with previous studies that show that Japanese individuals are more interested in forms of CAM such as pain relief pads and massage, than in mind-body forms of CAM like relaxation and meditation. Due to the high utilization of certain CAM practices, and given that most CAM users do not disclose their CAM use to their doctors, we conclude that physicians in rural Japan would benefit by asking about CAM use during patient interviews, and by familiarizing themselves with the potential benefits and risks of commonly used CAM modalities.
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Department, Chelsea Family Medicine Center, University of Michigan, 14700 E, Old U,S, Hwy, 12, Chelsea, MI 48118, UK. gdshumer@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shumer
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warber
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Motohara
authors.forename: Ayaka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plegue
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bialko
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amenomori
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Fetters
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires