Date of Conferral

6-10-2024

Date of Award

June 2024

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Public Health

Advisor

Dr. Srikanta Banerjee

Abstract

Available data for the last two decades have shown that the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing, with users including adult diabetics around the world. There is not a strong consensus concerning the influence of socioeconomic factors on the use of CAM by adult diabetics. The purpose of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to examine the use of CAM among U.S. adults 21 years and older diagnosed with diabetes and whether income influences the use of CAM among adult diabetics after adjusting for age, gender, and location. Cross-sectional data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey represented noninstitutionalized U.S. adults with diabetes (n = 26,728). Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the odds of CAM use among diabetics and whether income level influences CAM use. Results showed that females had lower adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of using CAM (AOR: 0.386; p = 0.654) compared to males (AOR: 1.472; p = 0.654). After adjusting for age, gender, and location, participants with higher education levels of master’s and above (AOR: 4.214; p = 0.103) had higher odds of CAM usage compared to participants with lower education levels of high school/GED (AOR: 0.468; p = 0.626). The AOR for the association between income level and CAM use after controlling for confounders such as age, gender, and location was 0.491 (p = 0.213). Implications for positive social change include having practitioners regularly inquire on CAM use and medication adherence among diabetic patients, which may reduced mortality resulting from harmful side effects.

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