Factors Associated with the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine/Therapy among United States Adults with Asthma

This article examined the sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicine/therapy (CAM) among adults with current asthma in the United States. We used data from 76,802 adults aged 18 years and above from the 2012-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Asthma Call-back Survey (ACBS) cycles. Weighted binary and multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the association of these factors with ever CAM use and the number of CAM use. We found that approximately 45.2% of US adults with asthma ever used CAM. Among adults with asthma, 25.3% and 19.9% endorsed using one CAM and =2 CAMs, respectively. CAM use was significantly associated with adults = 35 years, female gender, multiple/other race/ethnicity, higher cost barriers, adults with two or more disease comorbidities, and those with poorly controlled asthma in both binary and multinomial models. CAM use was not associated with insurance and income status. Understanding factors associated with CAM use can provide asthma care professionals valuable insights into the underlying drivers of CAM use behavior in this population, enabling them to offer more informed and effective medical advice and guidance.

Automated summary

This study explored the factors associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicine/therapy (CAM) among adults with current asthma in the United States. The results showed that approximately 45.2% of US adults with asthma had ever used CAM, and 25.3% and 19.9% endorsed using one CAM and =2 CAMs, respectively. CAM use was significantly associated with age, gender, race/ethnicity, cost barriers, disease comorbidities, and asthma control, but not with insurance and income status.