The profile of women who consult alternative health practitioners in Australia.

OBJECTIVES To compare the characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) users and non-users among Australian women. DESIGN Cross-sectional postal questionnaire conducted during 1996, forming the baseline survey of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. PARTICIPANTS Women aged 18-23 years (n = 14 779), 45-50 years (n = 14 099) and 70-75 years (n = 12 939), randomly selected from the Health Insurance Commission database, with over-sampling of women from rural and remote areas of Australia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Consultation with an alternative health practitioner in the 12 months before the survey. RESULTS Women in the mid-age cohort were more likely to have consulted an alternative health practitioner in the previous year (28%) than women in the younger cohort (19%) or older cohort (15%). In all age groups, CAM users were more likely than CAM non-users to reside in non-urban areas, to report poorer health, have more symptoms and illness, and be higher users of conventional health services. CONCLUSIONS Women in non-urban Australia are more likely to use CAM but do so in in parallel with conventional health services.