title: Acupuncture Use in the United States: Who, Where, Why, and at What Price?
abstract: Despite the increase in acupuncture uses and greater than ever before interest of funding agencies to fund biomedical research in acupuncture, little is known about the profile of acupuncture users. We examined who these individuals are, where they reside, why they use acupuncture, and what price they pay. The increased use and high costs associated with each acupuncture visit poses questions to health care insurers regarding its coverage. Profiling will help conventional providers identify the segment of the population who are more likely to use acupuncture and educate them on the possible risks and benefits of using it with conventional medicine.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Critical Care Medicine , University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Shamly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Zo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ramamonjiarivelo
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ellis-Griffith
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: acupuncture; alternative medicine; complementary medicine; profiling; utilization