The Association of Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Approach Usage: A Comprehensive Analysis Adjusting for...

Area of Science:

• Pain Management Research
• Public Health
• Complementary Health Approaches

Background:

• Chronic pain affects quality of life and increases healthcare costs.
• Complex pain etiology challenges conventional treatment.
• Many patients seek complementary health approaches (CHAs), but their use and effects are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• Quantify the association between chronic pain and CHA utilization in US adults.
• Specifically examine osteopathic manipulative treatment and other non-traditional modalities.
• Evaluate if these associations persist after demographic adjustment.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional online survey of 3022 US adults with and without chronic pain.
• Statistical analyses included Chi-Square tests and logistic regression.
• CHAs categorized into NIH-defined groups; usage, expectation, and experience analyzed.

Main Results:

• Chronic pain patients showed significantly higher overall CHA utilization (aOR=2.36).
• Osteopathic manipulative treatment use was notably higher (aOR=3.29).
• Despite low expectations, favorable experiences with CHAs were high (93.5%), especially for physical therapies.

Conclusions:

• Increased CHA use in chronic pain patients suggests unmet needs in conventional care.
• Further longitudinal research is needed to understand CHA adoption factors.
• Evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of CHAs is crucial for future clinical practice.