A failure to examine and address the of CAM use within cardiovascular care is a lost opportunity on several fronts. Most importantly, failing to discuss this significant health service issue places the patient at heightened risk of drug interactions between CAM and conventional treatments. It is also a lost opportunity to identify health seeking behaviour all critical to successfully coordinating self-management strategies. The variable use of CAM amongst particular ethnic, cultural groups and between genders emphasises the importance of investigating CAM use within health care systems and socio-demographic groups. Unfortunately, to date, we still know relatively little about the use of CAM amongst cardiovascular patients. In response to this important research gap, this paper - presenting findings from a large, nationally representative cohort study of Australian women aged 59-64 years - provides a detailed examination of conventional and CAM practitioner consultations as well as the use of self-prescribed CAM among women who have been diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Methods Sample This research was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) which was designed to investigate multiple factors affecting the health and well-being of women over a 20-year period. Women in three age groups (“young” 18-23, age” 45-50 and 70-75 years) were randomly selected from the national “mid “older” Medicare database.29 The focus of the present analysis is women from the mid-age cohort. The baseline survey, comprising 14,099 women, was conducted in 1996 and the respondents have been shown to be broadly representative of the national population of women in the target age groups.30 Analyses for this research are focused upon the most recent survey, which was conducted in 2010 when the women were aged 59-64 years. Measures of demographic characteristics Postcode of residence at the time of the baseline survey was used to classify area of residence as or non-urban. Women were asked about their current marital status and the highest educational qualification they had completed. The women were also asked about income and whether or not they had private health insurance with ancillary cover.
A failure to examine and address the of CAM use within cardiovascular care is a lost opportunity on several fronts. Most importantly, failing to discuss this significant health service issue places the patient at heightened risk of drug interactions between CAM and conventional treatments. It is also a lost opportunity to identify all health seeking behaviour critical to successfully coordinating self-management strategies. The variable use of CAM amongst particular ethnic, cultural groups and between genders emphasises the importance of investigating CAM use within health care systems and socio-demographic groups. Unfortunately, to date, we still know relatively little about the use of CAM amongst cardiovascular patients. In response to this important research gap, this paper - presenting findings from a large, nationally representative cohort study of Australian women aged 59-64 years - provides a detailed examination of conventional and CAM practitioner consultations as well as the use of self-prescribed CAM among women who have been diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Methods Sample This research was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) which was designed to investigate multiple factors affecting the health and well-being of women over a 20-year period. Women in three age groups (“young” 18-23, “mid age” 45-50 and “older” 70-75 years) were randomly selected from the national Medicare database.29 The focus of the present analysis is women from the mid-age cohort. The baseline survey, comprising 14,099 women, was conducted in 1996 and the respondents have been shown to be broadly representative of the national population of women in the target age groups.30 Analyses for this research are focused upon the most recent survey, which was conducted in 2010 when the women were aged 59-64 years. Measures of demographic characteristics Postcode of residence at the time of the baseline survey was used to classify area of residence as or non-urban. Women were asked about their current marital status and the highest educational qualification they had completed. The women were also asked about income and whether or not they had private health insurance with ancillary cover.