Discussing Mind and Body Practices with a Healthcare Provider is Associated with Better Outcome in the United States - Abstract
In the United States, it is common for people to choose their favorite alternative therapy and not to talk to their routine healthcare providers because alternative medicine and standard healthcare practice are generally separated practices. The purpose of this study is to examine whether discussing the use of Yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong therapy with a healthcare provider offers health benefits. We examined data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (n=33,397), the latest national representative survey of U.S. civilian population, to estimate the practice patterns of Yoga/Tai Chi/ Qigong. We selected people who choose Yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong as their first top alternative therapy (n=1,306) among all alternative treatments. We weighted estimates to reflect the complex sample design using SPSS. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic analyses were used. Among all people using Yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong as their first top therapy, talking to healthcare providers about those alternative therapies was positively correlated with lower stress, better sleep, enhanced emotional wellbeing, easier coping with health problems, improved overall health, improved relationships with others, and improved job/school attendance. We found that people who told their healthcare providers about their Yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong were 178% more likely to feel that the therapy helped. When asked about why they did not tell, 66% said the reason was that their providers did not ask. In conclusion, talking to a healthcare provider about alternative therapies is positively associated with achieving better health outcomes among people who choose Yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong as their first top alternative therapy.