P04.37
Purpose: Pregnancy is a unique time in life where women can be motivated to make healthy lifestyle changes. At the same time, these women and their developing babies may be in a more vulnerable state. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities may be particularly attractive to this population due to the perceptions that these therapies are safer due to their natural or holistic origins. Surprisingly, little is known regarding national estimates of CAM use in pregnancy.
Methods: We utilized the 2012 National Health Interview Survey(NHIS), a nationally-representative survey of the U.S. civilian adult population to examine CAM use during pregnancy. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate weighted prevalence and patterns of CAM use among pregnant women, including top modalities, reasons for use, patterns of disclosure to conventional providers, and perceived helpfulness. Comparisons are made with non-pregnant respondents of childbearing age.
Results: Of the 10,002 respondents who were women of childbearing age, 7% (n=727) were currently pregnant or pregnant during the year previous to the survey. 35% of the pregnant women had used one or more CAM therapies in the previous year (compared to 37% in non-pregnant women, p>0.05). The top three most commonly used modalities in pregnancy were non-vitamin/mineral supplements (14%), yoga (13%) and massage (11%). Use of non-vitamin/mineral supplements was significantly less common than in non-pregnant women (p=0.02). 30% of the pregnant CAM users disclosed their use of CAM to their primary providers.
Conclusion: CAM use in pregnancy is common, with a third of the population using one or more therapy, mirroring CAM use in non-pregnant women of childbearing age. Only one third disclosed their use to conventional providers. Given the relative paucity of safety and efficacy data for specific therapies in pregnancy, this study highlights the important need for further research in this area as well as education of patients and providers.
Contact: Selma Holden, sholden@bidmc.harvard.edu
