Pain drives Canadian youth to seek alternative medical treatment

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Pain drives Canadian youth to seek alternative medical treatment

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=32035

Aching backs and chronic pain are the most common reasons for

Canadian adolescents to seek complementary or alternative medical

treatment.

And there's a wide disparity - both in where they live and their

family income - between young people who use alternative treatments

and those who don't.

These are two of the findings from a new Queen's University study

into the use by Canadian youth of complementary and alternative

medicine (CAM), which includes massage therapy, acupuncture,

homeopathy and naturopathy. Funded by the Hospital for Sick Children

Foundation, this is the first population-based study of its kind.

" We don't like to think Canada has a two-tiered health system, yet

this is clearly a service which is more accessible to those who have

the resources to pay for it than those who don't, " says lead

investigator Dr. Ann McColl of Queen's Centre for Health

Services and Policy Research. " In the desperate situation these

families may find themselves - having a child in pain, with

persistent problems - the availability of options is different for

well-off kids than it is for poorer kids. "

Also on the team are Alison (Centre for Health Services and

Policy Research), Diane Davies (Canadian Adolescents at Risk Research

Network), Garieri (Kingston Wellness Centre) and research

analyst Churchman.

The new study analyzes data collected by Statistics Canada as part of

the Canadian Community Health Survey in 2000-2001. A total of 17,545

adolescents across the country, between the ages of 12 and 19, are

included in this health-care snapshot. " Disability " is defined by the

researchers as having at least one impairment (for example a visual

or mobility problem) and at least one activity restriction.

Among the key findings:

* 4.9 per cent of Canadian adolescents visited a CAM practitioner in

the preceding 12 months, with girls outnumbering boys by more than 2:1

* Back problems (16.7 per cent) and disabilities (nine per cent) are

the most common reasons for seeking alternative help, followed by

asthma and allergies (seven per cent)

* CAM use is highest in western Canada (six per cent per capita) and

lowest in the Atlantic provinces and the North (three per cent per

capita)

* 75 per cent of CAM users come from families with household income

in the top two quartiles

* Massage therapy is the most common type of CAM used by youth

Dr. McColl suggests that the east-west gradient may be explained by

the fact that complementary and alternative medicine receives more

regulatory and financial support (through publicly-funded insurance

coverage) in the western provinces.

While the study does not look at the effectiveness of these

treatments, " what's concerning is that young people across the

country have different levels of access to alternative therapies as

publicly-funded services, " says Dr. McColl. " There are noticeable

differences in access and utilization based on education, income and

geographic location. "

Queen's University

queensu.ca