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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2004.047688v1 96/7/1236    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (14) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kronenberg, F. Articles by Chao, M. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kronenberg, F. Articles by Chao, M. T. Related Collections Health Care Facilities/Services Access to Care Other Race/Ethnicity Immigration Surveys Women's Health

Fredi Kronenberg, PhD, Linda F. Cushman, PhD, Christine M. Wade, MPH, Debra Kalmuss, PhD and Maria T. Chao, DrPH

Fredi Kronenberg, Christine M. Wade, and Maria T. Chao are with the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY. Linda F. Cushman and Debra Kalmuss are with the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Fredi Kronenberg, Rosenthal Center, Box 75, P & S, Columbia University, 630 West 168th St, New York, NY, 10032 (e-mail: fk11{at}columbia.edu).

Objectives. We studied the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among women in 4 racial/ethnic groups: non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Chinese Americans.

Methods. We obtained a nationally representative sample of women aged 18 years and older living in the United States in 2001. Oversampling obtained 800 interviews in each group, resulting in a sample of 3068 women.

Results. Between one third and one half of the members of all groups reported using at least 1 CAM modality in the year preceding the survey. In bivariate analyses, overall CAM use among Whites surpassed that of other groups; however, when CAM use was adjusted for socioeconomic factors, use by Whites and Mexican Americans were equivalent. Despite the socioeconomic disadvantage of African American women, socioeconomic factors did not account for differences in CAM use between Whites and African Americans.

Conclusions. CAM use among racial/ethnic groups is complex and nuanced. Patterns of CAM use domains differ among groups, and multivariate models of CAM use indicate that ethnicity plays an independent role in the use of CAM modalities, the use of CAM practitioners, and the health problems for which CAM is used.

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