Complementary and alternative medical treatments are gainingfavor among adults in the United States, according to a NationalHealth Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

In the year prior to the survey, 62 percent of adults used someform of CAM therapy, when the definition of CAM therapy includedprayer specifically for health reasons. When prayer for healthreasons was excluded, 36 percent of adults said that they had usedsome form of CAM therapy.

The 10 most commonly used CAM therapies during the past 12months were prayer specifically for one's own health (43.0percent), prayer by others for one's own health (24.4 percent),natural products (18.9 percent), deep-breathing exercises (11.6percent), participation in prayer groups (9.6 percent), meditation(7.6 percent), chiropractic care (7.5 percent), yoga (5.1 percent),massage (5.0 percent), and diet-based therapies (3.5 percent)

The use of CAM varies by sex, race, geography, health insurancestatus, cigarette or alcohol use, and hospitalization. Women weremore likely than men to seek alternative or auxiliary treatments.CAM most often were used to treat back pain or back problems, heador chest colds, neck pain or neck problems, joint pain orstiffness, and anxiety or depression.