CAM consumers

There are few up-to-date, comprehensive statistics on the use of CAM in New Zealand.  However, the following surveys contain some information on levels of use, the kind of consumers who use CAM, and what conditions they use it for:

How many people use CAM?  

• The 1997 Ministry of Health survey Taking the Pulse[i] reported that in the previous twelve months:
  

• 6 percent of male and 7 percent of female respondents had used a chiropractor or osteopath

• 3 percent of males and 6.5 percent of females had visited a CAM therapist such as a naturopath, homoeopath, iridologist or acupuncturist

• 1 percent of males and 2 percent of females had seen a traditional healer, such as a tohunga, rongoā Māori specialist, or fofo
  

• This compares with 14 percent of women and 15 percent of men surveyed who had visited a physiotherapist, and 4 percent of women and 6 percent of men who had seen a social worker, psychologist or counsellor.  
  
  

• In 1997 the New Zealand Consumers' Institute carried out a random survey of its members[ii].  Just over 50 percent of respondents had tried a ‘non-conventional’ therapy.  Forty percent of female and 25 percent of male respondents had tried one of these therapies in the last year. 
  

·         A survey[iii] carried out by the New Zealand Charter of Health Practitioners in 1997 concluded that 74 percent of New Zealand households use vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbal remedies or other CAM products.

·         A 1996 survey of university students[iv]found that 66.5 percent of respondents had used an ‘alternative health care provider’ in the last year.  This definition included pharmacists/chemists and health food shop assistants.

Who uses CAM?

• There is only one recent, significant survey of the characteristics of New Zealand CAM consumers[v].  It was carried out between 1998 and 1999 with the aim of profiling 26-year-old users of unconventional practitioners.

• The survey found that 10 percent of participants had seen an unconventional practitioner in the previous 12 months. The majority (88%) had also seen a conventional practitioner. Those who had used both types of practitioner tended to be heavy users of health services (12+ visits per year). Compared to those who used conventional practitioners exclusively, they had significantly higher incomes and were more likely to report a serious injury, a current disability, a history of back problems, and more bodily pain.            

What conditions is CAM used to treat?       

• The 1997 New Zealand Consumers' Institute survey[ii] listed types of conditions that CAM therapies were most commonly used to treat. These are as follows:

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