Americans spent about $34 billion on alternative medicine in 2007

Adults in the United States spent $33.9 billion out of pocket on complementary and alternative medicine practitioner visits, products, classes and materials in 2007, according to data from the National Health Interview Survey.

“We estimate that this is approximately 11% of total out-of-pocket spending on health care,” Josephine Briggs, MD, director of the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, said during a media briefing. The researchers said this estimate is equivalent to 1.5% of total health care expenditures in the United States.

“The main reason that Americans turn to these approaches is for pain management and to contribute to their health and wellness,” Briggs said.

The report, conducted by the CDC National Center for Health Statistics and the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, is based on data from 23,393 completed survey interviews. The NIH researchers estimated that 38.3% of adults or 83 million people and 11.8% of children — 8.5 million children aged younger than 18 — used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in 2007. Thirty-eight million adults made an estimated 354.2 million visits to CAM practitioners.

Two-thirds ($22.0 billion) of the total costs spent on CAM were for self-care therapies, including products, classes and materials that do not require a visit to a health care provider. About one-third of the costs ($11.9 billion) were for CAM practitioner visits, including acupuncturists and chiropractors — the equivalent to about one-fourth of total out-of-pocket spending on physician visits.

“The fact that $22 billion is spent on these self-care therapies indicates that people are actively engaged in their own health and want to find solutions to their health issues that they can manage on their own vs. relying on a health professional. But notice that there still is a substantial use of CAM providers,” said Richard L. Nahin, PhD, MPH, study author, senior adviser of scientific coordination and outreach, and acting director of the division of extramural research at the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Forty-four percent of all out-of-pocket monies for CAM — about $14.8 billion — were spent on nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products, including androstenedione, fish oils, glucosamine, carnitine, creatine, lycopene, lutein, melatonin, omega fatty acids and prebiotics or probiotics. This $14.8 billion is the equivalent to about one-third of total out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs.

The last national estimates of out-of-pocket expenditures for CAM were derived from a 1997 telephone survey that revealed the total out-of-pocket expenditure for CAM use in adults was $27.0 billion per year, with $12.2 billion accounting for payment of CAM professionals.

“In response to the survey data and the need for public information on these types of therapies, we’re putting increasing emphasis on what types of CAM therapies are safe and effective for chronic pain and how these therapies might work, as well as the use of self-care types of CAM therapies for overall health and well-being,” Nahin said. –by Tina DiMarcantonio.

Nahin RL et al. Costs of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and frequency of visits to CAM practitioners: United States, 2007. National Health Statistics Reports; no. 18. Hyattsville, MD: National Centers for Health Statistics, 2009.