Logo of bmcamBioMed Centralsearchsubmit a manuscriptregisterthis articleBMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
PMC full text:

Table 1

Selected characteristics of survey respondents

CharacteristicTotal Sample
n = 264 N(%) or mean (SD)
CAM users
n = 72 N(%) or mean (SD)
CAM non-users
n = 192 N(%) or mean (SD)
P value

Mean age (SD) in years65.0 (13.9)63.1 (14.1)65.7 (13.8)0.82

Gender
 Male245 (93.5)67 (93.1)178 (93.7)0.85
 Female17 (6.5)5 (6.9)12 (6.3)

Race/Ethnicity
 White non-Hispanic241 (91.6)66(91.7)175 (91.6)0.99
 Other22 (8.4)6 (8.3)16 (8.4)

Religion
 Catholic150 (57.0)41 (57.0)109 (57.1)0.77
 Protestant64 (24.3)19 (26.4)45 (23.6)
 Other49 (18.6)12 (16.6)37 (19.3)

Employment status
 Employed (full or part-time, homemaker)46 (17.6)19 (26.4)27 (14.3)0.21
 Unemployed or unable to work102 (39.1)24 (33.3)78 (41.3)
 Retired113 (43.3)29 (40.3)84 (44.4)

Income
 ≤$50 K243 (97.2)62 (91.2)181 (99.4)0.006
 >$50 K7 (2.8)6 (8.8)1 (0.6)

Education
 <High School or GED94 (36.2)19 (26.4)75 (39.9)0.02
 ≥High School or GED166 (63.8)53 (73.6)113((60.1)

Insurance status
 Additional insurance111 (45.9)43 (60.6)68 (39.8)0.003
 No additional insurance131 (54.1)28 (39.4)103 (60.2)

Care outside VA
 Additional care54 (20.5)22 (30.6)32 (16.7)0.01
 No additional care210 (79.5)50 (69.4)160 (83.3)

Beliefs about cause of illness
 Lifestyle contributes to illness144 (54.5)48 (66.7)96 (50.0)0.001
 Lifestyle does not contribute to illness120 (45.5)24 (33.7)96 (50.0)

Referring Clinic Sample
 Pain Clinic118 (44.7)27 (37.5)91(47.4)0.15
 Cancer Clinic146 (55.3)45 (62.5)101(52.6)

Percentages are based on actual numbers of persons reporting data for each item (ranges from 242–264)