NCHStats

A new NCHS report presents estimates of expenditures on complementary health approach use among the U.S. population. Estimates are presented for adults and children separately and combined, as well as stratified by type of approach and family income.

Findings:

• An estimated 59 million persons aged 4 years and over had at least one expenditure for some type of complementary health approach, resulting in total out-of-pocket expenditures of $30.2 billion.
• More was spent on visits to complementary practitioners ($14.7 billion) than for purchases of natural product supplements ($12.8 billion) or self-care approaches ($2.7 billion).
• The mean per user out-of-pocket expenditure for visits to a complementary practitioner ($433) was significantly more than for purchases of natural product supplements ($368) or for self-care approaches ($257).
• Adults had higher mean annual out-of-pocket expenditures for visits to complementary practitioners than children ($442 and $291, respectively).
• Total out-of-pocket expenditures and mean per user out-of pocket expenditures for complementary health approaches increased significantly as family income increased.
• The mean per user out-of-pocket expenditure for complementary health approaches was $435 for persons with family incomes less than $25,000 and $590 for persons with family incomes of $100,000 or more.

A new report presents national estimates of selected wellness-related reasons for the use of natural product supplements, yoga, and spinal manipulation among U.S. adults in 2012. Self-reported perceived health outcomes were also examined.

Data was taken from 34,525 adults aged 18 and over collected as part of the 2012 National Health Interview Survey were analyzed for the report.

In particular, whether adults who used selected complementary health approaches did so to treat a specific health condition or for any of five wellness-related reasons was examined, as well as whether these adults perceived that this use led to any of nine health-related outcomes.

Key Findings from the Report:

• Users of natural product supplements and yoga were more likely to have reported using the approach for a wellness reason than for treatment of a specific health condition, whereas more spinal manipulation users reported using it for treatment rather than for wellness.
• The most common wellness-related reason reported by users of each of the three approaches was for ‘‘general wellness or disease prevention.’’
• The majority of users of all three health approaches reported that they perceived this use improved their overall health and made them feel better.
• Yoga users perceived higher rates of all of the self-reported wellness-related health outcomes than users of natural product supplements or spinal manipulation.