The use of CAM providers and psychiatric outpatient services in people with anxiety/depression: A cross-sectional survey

摘要

Background: Depression has been identified as one of the most frequent predictors of CAM use. However, limiteddata exist about the use of CAM providers among people with anxiety/depression in Norway. The aim of this studywas to investigate the use of CAM providers, and the use of CAM providers and psychiatric outpatient services incombination, among people with self-reported anxiety and/or depression.Methods: We used questionnaire data from 12,982 participants (30–87 years) in the cross-sectional sixth TromsøStudy (conducted in 2007-8). Eligible for analyses in our study were 1685 participants who reported suffering fromanxiety and/or depression. By descriptive statistical methods, we estimated the use of CAM providers, psychiatricoutpatient services, and the combination of these. By logistic regressions we studied the association between theuse of these services and gender, age, income, education, and self-reported degree of anxiety/depression.Results: During the previous year, 17.8 % of people with anxiety/depression visited a CAM provider once or more,11.8 % visited psychiatric outpatient services, and 2.5 % visited both. Men with anxiety/depression were less likely tovisit CAM providers compared to women (odds ratio [OR] 0.40, confidence interval [CI] 0.30–0.55), whereas highereducated people were more likely to visit compared to the lowest educated (OR 1.47, CI 1.02–2.13). The use ofCAM providers was not associated with the degree of anxiety/depression. For those who used both CAM providersand psychiatric specialist services during the previous year, severe anxiety/depression was strongly associated withuse compared to moderate disease (OR 7.53, CI 2.75–20.65).Conclusions: People with severe anxiety/depression seem to use CAM providers and psychiatric servicesadditionally, whereas those with moderate disease seem to use these services more as alternative pathways.CAM provider treatment might be a substitute for conventional care, particularly in patients with moderate disease.