Survey Results

Variable Name: Children whose parents told the child's personal health care provider about use of at least one CAM modality in the past 12 months

Survey Items: CTP1DS1; CTP2DS1; CTP3DS1

Denominator: Children age 4-17 years who used CAM and have a personal health care provider

Numerator: Told child’s personal health care provider about use of at least one CAM modality, Did not tell child's personal health care provider about CAM use

Revisions and Changes: New in 2012

Additional Notes: The questions were asked for each of the three CAM modalities (according to the CAL_CNT variable in the public use file) considered the most important to the child's health if the child used more than one CAM modality in the past 12 months. The variable was constructed collapsing the 3 modalities named.
The denominator of this variable is children who used any CAM according to the CAL_CNT variable (CAL_CNT>0 in the Child CAM Supplement) AND have a personal health care provider (CPROV1=1 in Sample Child Core). The CAL_CNT variable was constructed for programming purposes and is not designed to count the total number of CAM modalities a child used. The CAL_CNT variable does not count all 34 specific CAM modalities individually. It combines six traditional healers, five special diets, four movement or exercise techniques, meditation/guided imagery/progressive relaxation and yoga/tai chi/qi gong. It excludes (1) children who used vitamins/minerals, chelation, or Ayurveda; (2) children who used but did not see a practitioner for chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, massage, energy healing therapy, acupuncture, naturopathy, or craniosacral therapy in the past 12 months; (3) children who used herbal or other non-vitamin supplements in the past 12 months, but includes only children who used herbal or non-vitamin supplements in the past 30 days; (4) children who used yoga, tai chi or qi gong in the past 12 months, if they did NOT practice meditation or deep breathing as part of the yoga, tai chi or qi gong. Thus this is not a count of all children who used three or more CAM modalities. The total number of children in the CAL_CNT variable is less than the number of children who used any CAM asked in the survey because of these exclusions.

Treatment of Unknown Values: Unknown values (responses coded as 'refused', 'don't know', or ‘not ascertained’) are not included in the denominator when calculating prevalence estimates and weighted population counts displayed in the data query results table. Respondents who did not provide a response to any of the questions within the Child CAM Supplement were coded as “not ascertained” (n=195, 1.9% of sample children aged 4-17 years). Weighted population counts are underestimates due to both item nonresponse and unknowns, both of which are excluded from the counts.

History and Development: The Child Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) questionnaire, developed by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in collaboration with National Center for Health Statistics was fielded in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) as a supplement in 2007 and 2012. NHIS has been conducted annually since 1957 and the content of the survey has been updated every 10-15 years. The Child CAM survey instrument was developed based on extensive literature reviews, expert panel input and cognitive interviewing method. Previously validated questions and scales are used when available. In addition to these, the 2012 CAM Supplement questionnaire was updated based on qualitative analysis of the 2007 data and a series of focus groups with experts and family leaders. Respondents’ cognitive understanding of the survey questions is assessed during the pretest phase and revisions made as required. All final data components are verified by NCHS staff prior to public release. For more information about the survey development click here.