The relationship between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and quality of life among individuals with chronic pain: results from a nationally representative sample

Background: Chronic pain is a major public health concern in Canada, with an estimated annual cost of $6 billion in direct health care expenses. At the same time, Canadians are participating in an increased use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine the relationship between the use of CAM and HRQOL for individuals living with chronic pain. Method: This study was a secondary data analysis of the nationally representative Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 3.1 Subsample 1 collected by Statistics Canada in 2005 (n=32,133). Results: The prevalence of CAM use for the Canadian population was 20.9% whereas for the chronic pain subset, it was 30.8%. CAM users had 1.48 times increased odds of reporting a high HRQOL than non-CAM users (CI=1.16-1.88). Conclusion: These results demonstrate that a modest but significant positive association exists between CAM use and a high HRQOL.

Author dc:creator

• Friesen, Elizabeth Louise

Advisor dc:contributor.supervisor

• Chase, Robert (Community Health Sciences)

• chronic pain
• alternative therapies
• quality of life
• CAM

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1993/23423

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/23423