Highlights
- •Complementary and alternative medicine use among adolescents in the United States.
- •Health equity among racially and ethnically diverse adolescents.
- •How parents are managing chronic conditions and symptoms on behalf of their adolescents.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use
among racially and ethnically diverse adolescents. Greater understanding of CAM use
among this group is warranted to better inform health care providers in delivering
a culturally relevant health promotion approach.
Design and methods
A secondary data analysis was conducted using the 2012 Child Complementary and Alternative
Medicine Supplement of the National Health Interview Survey (CAM-NHIS) data, which
was collected from a national sample of adolescents aged 12–17 years. A logistic regression
test was employed to investigate the predictors associated with CAM use among racially
and ethnically diverse adolescents.
Results
While Black and Hispanic adolescents were the least likely to use CAM compared to
their White counterparts, families with higher incomes, higher education attainment,
and adolescents who experienced pain were more likely to use CAM.
Conclusions
Findings suggest the need for future research to gain a greater understanding of CAM
use among racially and ethnically diverse adolescents, and insights into how health
disparities impact CAM use. Greater understanding of how CAM use intersects with health
beliefs and outcomes is also warranted.
Practice implications
Based on the CAM-NHIS survey, few racially and ethnically diverse adolescents have
reported use of CAM. Development of culturally appropriate instruments and methods
to assess CAM use among racially and ethnically diverse adolescents may yield specific
data for this population. Informed health care providers can advocate for improved
access to CAM for minority adolescents and alter disparate use.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and FamiliesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Strategies of managing minor childhood illnesses using complementary and alternative medicine in Jorden.Global Journal of Health Sciences. 2018; 10: 145-154
- An introduction to categorical data analysis (3rd ed).John Wiley & Sons, 2019
- A group CBT-yoga protocol targeting pain-related and internalizing symptoms in youth.Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology. 2018; 6: 7-18
- Herbal medicines for gastrointestinal disorders in children and adolescents: A systematic review.Pediatrics. 2017; 139
- Integrating complementary medicine and supportive care: Patients’ perspectives toward complementary medicine and spirituality.Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2012; 18: 824-831
- Use of complementary health approaches among children aged 4–17 years in the United States: National Health Interview Survey, 2007–2012.National Health Statistics Reports. 2015; 10 (Retrieved from): 1-19
- Use of yoga, meditation, and among U.S. children aged 4–17 years: National Health Interview Survey, 2007–2012. National Health Statistics Reports; no 324.National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD2018
- Disclosure of complementary and alternative medicine to conventional medical providers: Variation by race/ethnicity and type of CAM.Journal of the National Medical Association. 2008; 100: 1341-1349
- The clinical effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy and an alternative medicine approach in reducing symptoms of depression in adolescents.Psychiatry Research. 2016; 239: 325-330
- Complementary and alternative medicines use among pediatric patients with epilepsy in a multiethnic community.Epilepsy & Behavior: E&B. 2016; 60: 68-74
- The role of spirituality and religiosity in persons living with sickle cell disease: A review of the literature.Journal of Holistic Nursing. 2016; 34: 351-360https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010115619055
- Factors associated with insomnia and complementary medicine use in children: Results of a national survey.Sleep Medicine. 2018; 44: 82-88
- Regression analysis and linear models. Concepts, applications, and implementation.The Guilford Press, 2017
- The use of complementary alternative medicine in children and adolescents with autism Spectrum disorder.Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 2018; 48: 40-63
- ADHD, religiosity, and psychiatric comorbidity in adolescence and adulthood.Journal of Attention Disorders. Advance online publication. 2020; https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054720972803
- Herbs and spices in the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders: A review of clinical trials.Nutrients. 2018; 10: 1715
- Health literacy and complementary and alternative medicine use among underserved inpatients in a safety net hospital.Journal of Health Community. 2013; 18: 290-297
- Complementary and alternative medicine use by children with pain in the United States.Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2017; 17: 785-793
- Health services and resources administration strategic plan.(Retrieved from)http://www.hrsa.gov/about/strategic-plan/index.htmlDate: 2019 October
- Patterns of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in children: A systematic review.European Journal of Pediatrics. 2014; 173: 1413-1428
- Invited commentary: Religion as a social determinant of health.American Journal of Epidemiology. 2020; 189: 1461-1463
- Disparities in complementary alternative medicine use and asthma exacerbation in the United States.The Journal of Asthma: Official Journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma. 2020; 57: 866-874
- Topical review: Adolescent self-regulation as a foundation for chronic illness self-management.Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 2014; 39: 1091-1096
- Mindfulness for adolescent chronic pain: A pilot feasibility study.Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2017; 29: 129-136
- A retrospective review of acupuncture use for the treatment of pain in sickle cell disease patients.Clinical Journal of Pain. 2014; 30: 825-830
- Perceptions of the efficacy of prayer and conventional medicine for health concerns.Journal of Religion and Health. 2020; 59: 1-18
- Breathing exercises forinpatients with sickle cell disease.Medsurg Nursing. 2015; 24: 35-38
- Pediatric Integrative Medicine.Pediatrics. 2017; 140e20171961
- Inpatients’ preferences, beliefs, and stated willingness to pay for complementary and alternative medicine treatments.Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine. 2017; 23: 259-263
- Randomized trial of yoga for children hospitalized with sickle cell vaso-occlusive crisis.Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2017; 53: 1026-1034
- Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: What's in a name?.(Retrieved from)https://nccih.nih.gov/health/integrative-healthDate: 2018, July
- Maternal and Child Health Bureau in collaboration with the National Center for Health Statistics.([IBM Corp. Released 38 IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp]. 2012 NHIS Child CAM Data Set prepared by the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative)http://childhealthdata.orgDate: 2012
- Provider perspective on integrative medicine for pediatric sickle cell disease-related pain.Global Advances in Health and Medicine. 2016; 5: 44-50
- Prior knowledge of blood glucose meter download improves the accuracy of verbal self-reported blood glucose in teenagers with type I diabetes at ski camp.Acta Diabetologica. 2016; 53: 637-642https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-016-0855-z
- Predictors for adolescent visits to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine in a total population (the Young-HUNT Studies)..PloS one. 2011; 6https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025719
- Coefficients of determination in logistic regression models - a new proposal: The coefficient of discrimination.The American Statistician. 2009; 63: 366-372
- Race and ethnicity. United States Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration.(Retrieved from)
- Sickle cell disease: A review of non-pharmacological approaches for pain.Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2016; 51: 163-177
- The use of complementary and alternative medicine in children with common neurologic diseases.Korean Journal of Pediatrics. 2016; 59: 313-318
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 27, 2021
Accepted:
July 10,
2021
Received in revised form:
July 9,
2021
Received:
September 21,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
