Alternative and Complementary Medicine (CAM) Use in the U.S.: New Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Available in the Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS)

Miriam King, University of Minnesota
Andrew Ward, Kansas Health Institute

IHIS provides consistently-coded and thoroughly-documented data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for free to researchers over the internet. In 2010, IHIS is adding over 4000 variables on use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by adults and children. Recently, more than half of U.S. adults used CAM, at a cost of 34 billion dollars a year. This poster describes new data available on CAM from the IHIS project, which is carried out at the Minnesota Population Center with funding from NIH. These CAM data cover use of vitamins and herbs and 16 techniques (such as acupuncture) over the past 2 decades. A graph shows use of CAM by U.S. adults over time.