Use of Complementary Health Practices for Pain Management, Heart Health on the Rise TO YOUR HEALTH
BY MICHELLE ALONSO The world of complementary and alternative medicine received a major boost with recent news coming out of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). An analysis conducted by NIH’s National Center for Complemen - tary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) reveals the overall use of com - plementary health approaches by American adults increased substan- tially from 2002 to 2022. The study , published in the January 2024 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), particularly highlights a surge in the adoption of complementary health approach- es for pain management. Using data from nearly 30,000 responses to a national health in - terview from 2002, 2012 and 2022, researchers were able to evaluate changes over time in the frequency and purpose in the use of seven health approaches: Yoga, meditation, massage therapy, chiroprac - tic care, acupuncture, naturopathy, and guided imagery/progressive muscle relaxation. Use of all seven forms of complementary approach - es for any reason increased significantly during this 20-year span. Additionally, the notable rise in the proportion of U.S. adults using complementary health approaches specifically for pain management increased from 42.3% in 2002 to 49.2% in 2022. Some key findings from the study include: • The percentage of individuals who reported using at least one of the seven approaches increased from 19.2% in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022. • The use of Yoga, meditation, and massage therapy experienced the most significant growth from 2002 to 2022. • Use of Yoga increased from 5% in 2002 to 15.8% in 2022. • Meditation became the most used approach in 2022, with an in - crease from 7.5% in 2002 to 17.3% in 2022.
continued on page 35 • About 50% of patients who used massage therapy or naturopathy, and about one third of those who practiced Yoga, did so for pain man - agement. • Acupuncture, increasingly covered by insurance, saw an increase from 1% in 2002 to 2.2% in 2022. • Among those using chiropractic care in 2022, 85% did so for pain management.
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34—PATHWAYS—Spring 24
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