Daily use of complementary and other therapies for symptoms among older adults: study design and illustrative results.

OBJECTIVE

This article describes research designed to specify complementary therapies used among older adults by obtaining daily use data and the specific purposes for use.

DESIGN

Two hundred African American and White participants completed a baseline interview and up to six sets of three daily-diary interviews at monthly intervals.

RESULTS

Participants provided retrospective information on complementary therapy use and information on the use of therapies for specific symptoms experienced across 3,070 person days. Retrospective information indicated that most participants used complementary therapies (e.g., 85.0% used home remedies in the past year). The use of complementary or other therapies and the number of days the therapies were used varied for specific symptoms. For example, home remedies were used on 86 (9.1%) of the 944 person days for which joint pain was reported.

DISCUSSION: The daily-diary design provides detailed information for delineating how elders include complementary and other therapies in their health self-management.