Practice patterns of naturopathic physicians: results from a random survey of licensed practitioners in two US States - PubMed (original) (raw)

Practice patterns of naturopathic physicians: results from a random survey of licensed practitioners in two US States

Heather S Boon et al. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2004.

Abstract

Background: Despite the growing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by consumers in the U.S., little is known about the practice of CAM providers. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the practice patterns of naturopathic physicians in Washington State and Connecticut.

Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with state-wide random samples of licensed naturopathic physicians and data were collected on consecutive patient visits in 1998 and 1999. The main outcome measures were: Sociodemographic, training and practice characteristics of naturopathic physicians; and demographics, reasons for visit, types of treatments, payment source and visit duration for patients.

Result: One hundred and seventy practitioners were interviewed and 99 recorded data on a total of 1817 patient visits. Naturopathic physicians in Washington and Connecticut had similar demographic and practice characteristics. Both the practitioners and their patients were primarily White and female. Almost 75% of all naturopathic visits were for chronic complaints, most frequently fatigue, headache, and back symptoms. Complete blood counts, serum chemistries, lipids panels and stool analyses were ordered for 4% to 10% of visits. All other diagnostic tests were ordered less frequently. The most commonly prescribed naturopathic therapeutics were: botanical medicines (51% of visits in Connecticut, 43% in Washington), vitamins (41% and 43%), minerals (35% and 39%), homeopathy (29% and 19%) and allergy treatments (11% and 13%). The mean visit length was about 40 minutes. Approximately half the visits were paid directly by the patient.

Conclusion: This study provides information that will help other health care providers, patients and policy makers better understand the nature of naturopathic care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, Appel S, Wilkey S, Van Rompay M, Kessler RC. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997: Results of a follow-up national survey. JAMA. 1998;280:1569–1575. doi: 10.1001/jama.280.18.1569. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boon H, Stewart M, Kennard MA, Gray R, Sawka C, Brown JB, McWilliam C, Gavin A, Baron RA, Aaron D, Haines-Kamka T. The use of complementary/alternative medicine by breast cancer survivors in Ontario: Prevalence and perceptions. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2000;18:2515–2521. - PubMed
    1. Zollman C, Vickers A. ABC of complementary medicine. Users and practitioners of complementary medicine. Bmj. 1999;319:836–838. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lerner IJ, Kennedy BJ. The prevalence of questionable methods of cancer treatment in the United States. CA-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 1992;42:181–191. - PubMed
    1. Fernandez CV, Stutzer CA, MacWilliam L, Fryer C. Alternative and Complementary Therapy Use in Pediatric Oncology Patients in British Columbia: Prevalence and Reasons for Use and Nonuse. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 1998;16:1279–1286. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources