National studies have advanced our understanding of CAM use in the general population, however, far less is known about CAM use in minorities, it is important that we understand the scope of CAM use by minorities because CAM use may be more prevalent than in the general population and may contribute to racial and ethnic health disparities. Although Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have been stereotyped as """"""""model minorities"""""""" in terms of health, disaggregation of AAPIs into subgroups reveals health disparities in various chronic illnesses. For many AAPls who are foreign-born, perceived race/ethnic discrimination, and lack of access to conventional care may propel CAM as a substitute for conventional care; these individuals may be predisposed to use ethnic-specific CAM to address unmet health care needs. AAPIs who turn to CAM as their first tier of medical care may experience delay in receiving conventional medical care. Lack of ethnic-specific data and the administration of surveys only in English have limited previous studies on CAM use.
We aim to remedy these knowledge gaps by linking the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, a representative sample of adults in California, with the California Health Interview Survey- CAM supplement. Since both surveys were conducted in multiple languages and contain ethnic-specific data our study application represents a unique opportunity to better understand variations in CAM use and its relationship with access to conventional health care among AAPIs. We propose to investigate the prevalence and predictors of CAM use and ethnic-specific CAM use among AAPIs and AAPI subgroups. Moreover, we will evaluate the relationship of acculturation, perceived race/ethnic discrimination, access to conventional care, and health status with CAM use among AAPIs and compare these findings to the white population. This study represents a necessary first step to better understand if CAM use among AAPIs and whether it contributes to health disparities.
| Hsiao, An-Fu; Wong, Mitchell D; Miller, Melissa F et al. (2008) Role of religiosity and spirituality in complementary and alternative medicine use among cancer survivors in California. Integr Cancer Ther 7:139-46 |
| Hsiao, An-Fu; Wong, Mitchell D; Goldstein, Michael S et al. (2006) Variation in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use across racial/ethnic groups and the development of ethnic-specific measures of CAM use. J Altern Complement Med 12:281-90 |
| Hsiao, An-Fu; Wong, Mitchell D; Goldstein, Michael S et al. (2006) Complementary and alternative medicine use among Asian-American subgroups: prevalence, predictors, and lack of relationship to acculturation and access to conventional health care. J Altern Complement Med 12:1003-10 |
