ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2011
The urban-rural divide in complementary and alternative medicine use: a longitudinal study of 10,638 women.
Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Complementary medicine use by the Australian population: a critical mixed studies systematic review of utilisation, perceptions and factors associated with use.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Effects of Blueberry Supplementation on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in a Rural Louisiana Population.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Internet health information-seeking behavior and the use of traditional and complementary medicine: the role of online engagement and perceived information usefulness and reliability.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Sustainability of a Non-pharmacological, Self-Managed Intervention for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: 3-group Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Research square · 2024Article
- Regional Perspectives on Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Results of a Regional Survey.Complementary medicine research · 2024Article
- Utility of Cupping Therapy in Substance Use Disorder: A Novel Approach or a Bizarre Treatment?Cureus · 2023Article
- Use of CAM among cancer patients : Results of a regional survey in Sweden.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Article
- Demographics, health literacy and health locus of control beliefs of Australian women who take complementary medicine products during pregnancy and breastfeeding: A cross-sectional, online, national survey.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Article
- Article
- A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in a Non-urban Malaysian Population.Journal of community health · 2021Article
- Advancing urban ethnopharmacology: a modern concept of sustainability, conservation and cross-cultural adaptations of medicinal plant lore in the urban environment.Conservation physiology · 2021Article
- Factors associated with local herb use during pregnancy and labor among women in Kigoma region, Tanzania, 2014-2016.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Article
- Complementary and alternative therapy use in a regional radiation oncology treatment centre: Can staff knowledge, views, confidence and documentation be improved?Journal of medical radiation sciences · 2019Article
- Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in cancer patients: An Italian multicenter survey.Oncotarget · 2017Article
- Pulled in or pushed out? Understanding the complexities of motivation for alternative therapies use in Ghana.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2016Article
- Predictors of traditional medicines utilisation in the Ghanaian health care practice: interrogating the Ashanti situation.Journal of community health · 2015Article
- Helping address the national research and research capacity needs of Australian chiropractic: introducing the Australian Chiropractic Research Network (ACORN) project.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2015Article
- Health related lifestyle and preventive medical care of rural Spanish women compared to their urban counterparts.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2014Article
- The interface with naturopathy in rural primary health care: a survey of referral practices of general practitioners in rural and regional New South Wales, Australia.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2014Article
- Urban-rural disparity of generics prescription in Taiwan: the example of dihydropyridine derivatives.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundResearch has identified women in rural and remote areas as higher users of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners than their urban counterparts. However, we currently know little about what influences women's CAM consumption across the urban/rural divide. This paper analyses 10,638 women's CAM use across urban and rural Australia.
methodsData for this research comes from Survey 5 of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health conducted in 2007. The participants were aged 56-61 years. The health status and health service use of CAM users and non-users were compared using chi-square tests for categorical variables and t-tests for continuous variables.
resultsWomen who consulted a CAM practitioner varied significantly by place of residence: 28%, 32% and 30% for urban, rural and remote areas respectively (P < .005). CAM users tended to be more dissatisfied with conventional care than CAM non-users, but this was consistent across the 3 areas of residence. CAM users have higher percentages of most symptoms but the only rural/urban differences were for severe tiredness, night sweats, depression and anxiety. For diagnosed diseases, CAM users have higher percentages of most diagnoses but only hypertension and skin cancer were statistically significantly higher for rural and remote but not urban women (P < .005).
conclusionsIn contrast to some recent claims, our analysis suggests the lack of access to and/or patient dissatisfaction with conventional health practitioners may not play a central role in explaining higher use of CAM by women in rural and remote areas when compared to women in urban areas.
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