HEALTH SERVICE RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Bair YA, Gold EB, Utts JM, Zhang G, Rasor M, Upchurch
DM, Chyu L, Greendale GA.
Use of complementary and alternative medicine during
the menopause transition: longitudinal results from the study of women's
health across the nation (SWAN).
UC Davis Center for Health Services Research yabair@ucdavis.edu
PURPOSE: This study examined whether use of
complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies during menopause transition
varied by ethnicity.
METHODS: The Study of Women's Health Across
the Nation (SWAN) is a prospective cohort study, following a group of
3302 women from five racial/ethnic groups, at seven clinical sites located
nationwide. Using longitudinal data encompassing 6 years of follow-up,
we examined trends in use of 5 categories of CAM (Nutritional, Physical,
Psychological, Herbal and Folk) by menopause status and ethnicity. To
account for potential secular trends in CAM use or availability, we
also evaluated the trends in CAM use over calendar time.
RESULTS: Approximately 80% of all participants
had used some form of CAM at some time during the 6-year study period.
Caucasians and Japanese women had the highest rates of use (60%), followed
by Chinese (46%), African American (40%) and Hispanic women (20%). Overall
use of CAM therapy remained relatively stable over the study period.
In general, CAM use did not appear to be strongly associated with change
in menopause transition status. Use of CAM among Caucasians did not
change with transition status. Among Chinese, and African American participants,
we observed an increase in CAM use as women transitioned to peri-menopause
and a decrease in use of CAM with transition to post-menopause. Among
Hispanic and Japanese women, we observed a decrease in use of CAM in
early peri-menopause, followed by an increase as women entered late
peri-menopause and a decrease as they progressed to post-menopause.
Patterns of use for the five individual types of CAM varied. Caucasian
women had relatively stable use of all CAM therapies through the transition.
Japanese women decreased use of nutritional and psychological remedies
and increased use of physical remedies as they transitioned into late
peri-menopause. Among African American women, use of psychological remedies
increased as they progressed through menopause. Use of folk remedies
decreased progressively through the transition for all ethnicities except
Chinese women.
CONCLUSIONS: While CAM use did vary in some
ethnic groups in relation to advancing menopausal status, there was
no evidence of influence of calendar time on CAM use. Patterns of CAM
use during menopause are likely to be driven by cultural experience,
menopausal health and access to therapies. Women's personal and cultural
preferences should be taken into consideration by health care providers
for medical decision-making during menopause and throughout the aging
process.
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