Anxious, depressed people over 65 turn more
often to alternative therapies
Newswise — People over 65 who are
depressed or anxious turn to complementary or alternative medicine
more often than older people who are not anxious or depressed – but
not to treat their mental symptoms.
Joseph. G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., and
colleagues from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported
in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine that 34.9
percent of people over 65 who had symptoms of anxiety or depression
used complementary or alternative medicine (CAM), compared to 26.5
percent of those without mental symptoms.
When praying for health is
considered a form of CAM and added in, the percentage jumps to 81.7
percent of those with mental symptoms, compared to 64.6 percent of
those without.
But the results showed that fewer
than 20 percent of those with anxiety or depression used CAM to
treat it. That was a surprise.
“Based on previous research and
models of health self management, it was anticipated that CAM use
would be greater among older adults with self-reported anxiety or
depression than those without such conditions,” said Grzywacz,
associate professor of family and community medicine.
The results are based on the 2002
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Alternative Health
Supplement, which Grzywacz said was “the largest and most
representative study of CAM use in the U.S. population to date.” The
survey included 30,785 persons who participated in face-to-face
interviews with U.S. Census Bureau personnel.
People who answered “yes” to the
question “During the past 12 months have you been frequently
depressed or anxious?” were defined as having anxiety or depression,
he said.
“The findings demonstrate that a
significantly greater proportion of older adults with anxiety or
depression, in contrast to those without these conditions, use CAM,”
said Grzywacz. “These differences are driven by greater use of
spiritual practices, relaxation techniques and non-vitamin,
non-mineral natural products.”
But he added, “Older adults with
anxiety or depression generally do not use CAM to treat their mental
conditions.”
He said that the 2002 NHIS survey
was the first with sufficient numbers of older adults to provide
description of CAM use among those with anxiety and depression.
Grzywacz said that mental
disorders among older adults are under-diagnosed and under-treated.
Partly, that’s because people over
65 don’t believe it is treatable. “Older adults frequently report
that depressive feelings are a natural part of aging and may not
view them as something requiring treatment,” said Grzywacz.
Another surprise was that there
was no difference among race or ethnic groups in the use of CAM for
poor mental health. Last December, Grzywacz and his team reported
that, among people over 65, blacks and Native Americans make much
greater use of home remedies than whites. The differences seemed to
be based on culture rather than access to health care.
In the current study, he said, “in
the absence of conventional treatment, we expected that minority
elders would seek other therapies to manage their mental health.”
But that didn’t happen.
Other investigators in the study
included Thomas A. Arcury, Ph.D., from Family and Community
Medicine, and Sara A. Quandt, Ph.D., Ronny A. Bell, Ph.D., Wei Lang,
Ph.D., and Cynthia K Suerken, M.S., all from the Division of Public
Health Sciences. The research was supported by the National Center
for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North
Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health
Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. U.S.
News & World Report ranks Wake Forest University School of Medicine
18th in family medicine, 20th in geriatrics, 25th in primary care
and 41st in research among the nation's medical schools. It ranks
32nd in research funding by the National Institutes of Health.
Almost 150 members of the medical school faculty are listed in Best
Doctors in America.