The continued widespread use of individual and multiple CAM therapies underscores the need to rigorously evaluate the safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of these approaches, according to the study's lead author Hilary Tindle, Harvard Medical School (HMS) research fellow, and co-author David Eisenberg, director of the Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies and the Osher Institute at HMS.

The study results appear in the January/February issue of the medical journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.

The study compared results of the National Health Interview Survey in 2002 and a survey conducted by researchers at HMS (Eisenberg et al.) in 1997. The two surveys were similar but not identical. Prior to this study, there had been no head-to-head comparison using a common definition of CAM.

"Our research over the past 14 years has shown a consistent level of usage by adult Americans," said Dr. Eisenberg. "While there have been a few notable changes in which CAM therapies people are using, the overall number of adults employing some type of CAM has remained remarkably consistent since we began our surveys in 1990. This says to us that these therapies are part of the fabric of modern day health care, and that we need to do more research on their safety and effectiveness - just as we would with any other therapeutic options," concludes Eisenberg.

Over the five-year period between the two most recent surveys, the total number of Americans using any CAM therapy remained fairly stable at 72 million. However, there were changes in the choice of CAM therapies used.

The largest change was a 50 percent jump in the
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12-Jan-2005