Use of curanderismo in a public health care system.

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE and its therapies have become increasingly popular during the past decade. Information concerning these therapeutic forms of healing in the United States can be found in medical textbooks, brochures for healing groups, and a burgeoning variety of different medical information sources.1 In 1990, a national survey conducted by Eisenberg et al2 found that 33.8% of 1539 adults, which would extrapolate to approximately 60 million Americans, had tried at least 1 of 16 alternative procedures or therapies, including such practices as acupuncture, chiropractic, spiritual healing, herbal medicine, or folk remedies, within the past year. An additional one third of this subset of Americans were thought to have visited a nonphysician provider who practices alternative techniques on 1 or more occasions.2 A national follow-up survey of 2055 adults, conducted again by Eisenberg et al,3 in 1997 revealed that 42.1% of the subjects, which would extrapolate to 83 million Americans, had used at least 1 of the same 16 forms of alternative therapy in the previous year.