Alternative treatment refers to the use of other types of treatment different than the conventional means which are used to cure or manage medical conditions of various kinds. It comprises of traditional ways of treatment which have been used for ages and passed down to the present generation. They are mostly referred to as complementary or integrative medicine since they are incorporated together with conventional medicine to help the patients. Research has shown that about forty percent of adult Americans have used at least one of the various forms of alternative medicine. The different types of alternative medicine include acupuncture, which involves the use of needles to excite specific parts of the body. Acupuncture has been known to alleviate back pain, depression, and even infertility. Chiropractic medicine consists of the manipulation of the spine to align it correctly for proper function and is helpful especially in lower back pain.
Alternative medicine has been noted to be popular in some communities while in other communities it is not as popular. Indeed, some communities prefer certain types of alternative treatment while the same kind of alternative therapy is not as popular in other communities. The research, therefore, sought to determine the popularity of the different types of alternative medicine based on the racial and ethnic groups of Afro American, Hispanics, Asians, and whites. The researchers first sought to find out the awareness of the alternative medicine available in all the groups. Subsequent research dwelt on the use of the two major types of alternative treatment; acupuncture and chiropractic medicine. Though the methods have gained traction over the years, the usage and preference among the communities have not been exhaustively researched thus the study sought to determine the level of awareness and the reputation in the communities.
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Methods
The Slone survey was identified as it is the center that collects reliable information on various diseases in the country. It was also the leader in telephone surveys in the United States. As such, the data from the center was used to find respondents from across the country to subject them to the research questions (Nardi, 2018). Subjects were identified, and a specially trained researcher was mandated to interview them and provide the data. The subjects were required to answer whether they were aware of any alternative treatment offered in the country. Afterward, they were asked to say whether they had used any form of alternative medicine. After that, the third question would narrow down to acupuncture and chiropractic medicine and if they had ever used any of the two. Additional questions would inquire research for choosing alternative medication and its effectiveness. The respondents would also be asked whether they would recommend the procedure to other people as a measure of gauging the preference. Since the researcher sought to determine the inclination and awareness among the ethnic communities, the research acquired demographic information. The researcher would then ask the subject whether they are Hispanic, Afro American, Asian or White.
Acupuncture/Chiropractic Medicine
The alternative treatment of focus would be written on the questionnaire or explained in the interviews. The respondents would be asked on the questionnaires if they knew the procedures or not. To aid in the inquiry and the provision of accurate information, the definition of the medical terms and illustrations would be provided on the questionnaires so that respondents would know precisely what they are responding to (Nardi, 2018). In the case of phone calls, the medicine would be thoroughly explained by the researcher to the subject so that they comprehend before they return. Telephone interviewees would also have to be elucidated exhaustively before the subjects respond in case they doubt any meaning. The demographic information is vital to the research though it has to be done under regulation. To this end, the investigation had to be approved by the relevant authorities. For the questions on race, more than one response was permitted for the subjects.
Subjects
The research put into consideration that there were more women than men in the county while choosing the respondents. According to the recent census data, women made up fifty-four percent while men were forty-four percent. Further, the fact that men earned more than the women was considered since the alternative medicine has a close relationship with economic level. Another factor that was considered was the educational level as it is noted that the educational level among men is slightly higher than in women (Nardi, 2018). The research sampled 1200 subjects throughout the year from August 2017 to July 2018. The subjects were at least eighteen years of age. Importantly, the research majorly focused on respondents with a higher income. Moreover, subjects with an educational level of not more than high school were not considered for the survey in a bid to get more respondents familiar with the research questions.
Data Analysis
The information acquired on ethnicity and race was put into categories identified before of Hispanic, Afro American, White, and Asian. There was a need to record raw data since some of the respondents did not give premeditated answers, which were marked as ‘other.' The number of those who responded as ‘other’ was about 200. The question on race was the most difficult to analyze. Approximately, 100 respondents could not be assigned to a particular ethnic group as they were either biracial or they did not know precisely where they fell and would instead be considered as Americans rather than by their descent. Apart from the problematic subjects of racial classification, there were about 20 who refused to provide information completely.
The awareness of the alternative medicine of acupuncture and chiropractic were examined in their use over time but restricted to the last two years. The examination was done according to the ethnic and racial groups. For data collected to be valid and reliable, there was the need for adjustment of the prevalence of estimates. The Slone survey informed the methods of sampling of the subjects according to households, but it was necessary to make sure that only one subject was picked from each house and it was thoroughly checked to avoid picking different people from the same family (Nardi, 2018). The factors of education and gender are also given importance since they have the potential to determine the outcome of the findings of the research. It was also important to note the disparity in the economic status of the ethnic groups. The black and Hispanics tend to have lower economic power compared to their white counterparts, and thus the research had to be aware of such differences right from the initial sampling stages. However, the economic and gender differences were identified as crucial factors in the study thus were given keen examination and analysis. Furthermore, the assessments were standardized according to the overall distribution of the sample population together with other factors such as age and level of education.
Results
The overall awareness of acupuncture and chiropractic medicine shows that realization was least among African Americans at 11%. It is moderate amongst Hispanics at 14% and highest among the whites at 20%. The recognition in the Asian community was represented by 16%. The estimates had to be increased due to the consideration of age, gender, and education factors. As a result of the adjustment, the ratings increased for African Americans and the Hispanics while they reduced the forecast for whites. Estimate adjustment was majorly applied to the African Americans, Hispanics and whites because the other racial groups had inadequate data.
The awareness levels were generally low among those younger than 45 years while it was higher among 45-64 year olds. However, this did not apply to African Americans whose awareness levels among the older people was lowest at 9%. The awareness levels was higher in females of all groups, and the trend showed an increase with increasing level of education. In all the ethnic groups, awareness was generally lower in African Americans than in Hispanics and whites (Chou et al., 2018). There was, however, negligible variations across some states in the United States. Chiropractic medicine was the commonly used alternative treatment at 5% in afro Americans and whites. Though awareness was generally low, the acupuncture was lower than chiropractic use. All the groups knew a certain level though the difference across the groups varied. The results show that afro Americans awareness and use of alternative medicine was the lowest of all the ethnic groups.
The subjects who stated to have used chiropractic medicine especially in the month before the survey said they only used it once or twice at most. The whites were discovered to use it more compared to the ethnic groups. The use was motivated due to several reasons. First, most of the white respondents said they believed that it had positive effects on their health and thsu they used it to alleviate some medical problems. Specifically, back problems were the most common reason for seeking alternative medication. However, Afro Americans opted for the procedure due to medical reasons followed by the Hispanics. Asians preference for the method stemmed from their culture as most saw the process as therapeutic and even said the procedure had origins in the Asian communities (Bhalerao et al., 2013). Among the whites, the use of alternative medicine was also motivated by leisure needs. Indeed, a considerable number of the whites used acupuncture mainly for relaxation other than medical purposes, and most had been recommended by the doctors.
It is important to note that the use of the methods was mostly for medical purposes but in cases where it was used for leisure and general wellbeing, the educational level played a crucial part in the preference. The use of the methods especially acupuncture for recreation and relaxation was discovered to have a close relationship with income and levels of education (Gale, 2014). Among those sampled, the whites with more pay and higher educational level had used the method for leisure or complementary medication while it was lowest in African Americans. The Asians case was unique since the main reason for use was a historical background rather than medical reasons.
Discussion
Though there has been significant research on the use of alternative methods of treatment, which have focused on acupuncture, chiropractic, and even the use of herbal medicine, there has been no research on the preference and awareness especially among the ethnic communities in the United States (Corp, Jordan & Croft, 2018). Previous surveys have been done based on selected populations and, therefore, did not provide a national outlook. Other researches mainly worked on the use of herbal supplement especially those recommended by doctors. The exploration of the study was based on credible information from the Slone database.
Overall, the participants preferred the alternative treatment of acupuncture. Chiropractic medicine was lower in the African Americans than Hispanics and whites. However, there was considerable similarity across the four ethnic groups. The awareness was higher among the females than the males and also among the middle-aged than the elderly (Gale, 2014). The cognizance and use of the procedures also increase with the increase in educational level. As such, the study concluded that the rise in educational level resulted in higher incomes. Indeed, this explains why there was increased use among the people of higher income. The whites also had more awareness and, therefore, it correlated with the notion that the whites had better pay and had advanced educational levels. The low level of use and knowledge among African Americans can also be related to the low levels of education and the low-income rate among the black communities and Hispanics. Educational level and income were, therefore, identified as the substantial reason for awareness and use of alternative treatment.
Notably, the Asian community had different reasons for using the treatment. Indeed, their educational level was not different from the African Americans and Hispanics, but they had higher awareness. As mentioned before, the reasons were given as having a culture of alternative use in the community. It is worth noting that the results of use in the Asian community presented a challenge since it was a factor that was not considered in the planning of the study (Bhalerao et al., 2013). There were variable results given for both of the methods, but chiropractic use was more popular among those aware of the procedures. However, the reason was not established with accuracy, but the study deduced that it could be because it was more recommended by doctors. Another reason could be that there was a high occurrence of back pain problems thus chiropractic medicine was more in use than acupuncture.
To ensure accuracy of the results, it was crucial to correlate it with other previous studies and statistics from National Health Survey for the years 2017 and 2016. The data was apparently in line with the findings of the study since it showed that there was 10% awareness in blacks and 17% in whites (Green et al., 2017). The findings are in agreement with the study results thus implying the accuracy of the research. Other statistics from other sources did not have the ethnic consideration and, therefore, were disregarded. In addition, methodological characteristics may have influenced the findings, through the Slone data showed an efficiency of about 80% percent. Since the data collected was representative of the entire country, the conclusions can be trusted. The decision to take part in the study may have been influenced by prior use and awareness of the alternative procedures. Moreover, the research was done in two languages English and Spanish, and as such, the respondents who spoke other languages might have been left out resulting in bias. The ethnic basis of the study may also have led to some bias since some respondents may not have given clear information about their ethnic background, especially on questionnaires and telephone conversations. It is possible that some respondents may have outrightly lied, but the effect was mitigated by thorough background checks.
Conclusion
The data of the survey tried to be representative of the entire population to a huge extent, and thus the findings of the study are relatively accurate. The contemporary use of alternative treatment especially acupuncture and chiropractic have increased considerably, which can be attributed to the rise in income and the urge to seek alternative solutions to treat or manage chronic ailments. The race and ethnic factors in the study mirror other conceptions and characteristics of ethnic backgrounds, especially regarding educational levels and income. Age is also a factor in the study since most of the young people had a high awareness than the old folks. Whereas it has been noted that ethnic background is a good indicator of the influence of knowledge and use of the alternative medicine, it is challenging to arrive at a concrete conclusion due to the factors of education and background since the Asian community presents a problematic case of study.
References
Bhalerao, M. S., Bolshete, P. M., Swar, B. D., Bangera, T. A., Kolhe, V. R., Tambe, M. J., ... & Thatte, U. M. (2013). Use of and satisfaction with complementary and alternative medicine in four chronic diseases: a cross-sectional study from India. Natl Med J India , 26 (2), 75-8.
Chou, L., Ranger, T. A., Peiris, W., Cicuttini, F. M., Urquhart, D. M., Briggs, A. M., & Wluka, A. E. (2018). Patients’ perceived needs for allied health, and complementary and alternative medicines for low back pain: A systematic scoping review. Health Expectations , 21 (5), 824–847. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12676
Corp, N., Jordan, J. L., & Croft, P. R. (2018). Justifications for using complementary and alternative medicine reported by persons with musculoskeletal conditions: A narrative literature synthesis. PLoS ONE , 13 (7), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200879
Gale, N. (2014). The sociology of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine. Sociology compass , 8 (6), 805-822.
Green, R. R., Santoro, N., Allshouse, A. A., Neal-Perry, G., & Derby, C. (2017). Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Herbal Remedy Use in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Women: Results from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine , 23 (10), 805–811. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2017.0080
Nardi, P. M. (2018). Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods . Routledge
Tables
| Procedure | Whites | Blacks | Asians | Hispanics |
| Acupuncture | 20% | 11% | 16% | 14% |
| Chiropractic | 22% | 10% | 17% | 13% |
