Measuring Traditional and Complementary Medicine Use

Users of T&CM were defined as participants who reported visits to a T&CM provider and/or used non-provider interventions in the preceding 12 months. Simplified questions based on the international questionnaire to measure use of complementary and alternative medicine questions, the I-CAM-Q [52 (link)] were used. The use of a T&CM provider was based on a “yes” response to either of these three questions from Q1: “Have you during the past year visited a traditional healer (helper, “reader”, etc.?)”, “Have you during the past year visited an acupuncturist?” or “Have you during the past year visited a complementary medicine provider (homeopath, reflexologist, spiritual healer, etc.?)”. Non-provider T&CM use was collected from Q2 through “Have you used herbal medicines, natural remedies, or herbal remedies during the last 12 months?” (natural remedies henceforth), and “Have you used meditation, yoga, qigong, or tai chi as self-treatment during the last 12 months?” (self-help practices henceforth) with the response options “yes” and “no”. Data on T&CM use was self-reported.