Ellen P. McCarthy

(Headache 2011;51:1087‐1097)Objective.— Our objective was to determine patterns, reasons for, and correlates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by US adults with migraines/severe headaches.Background.— While many patients with chronic conditions use CAM, little is known about CAM use by adults with migraines/severe headaches.Methods.— We compared CAM use between adults with and without self‐reported migraines/severe headaches using the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (n = 23,393), a national cross‐sectional survey.Results.— Adults with migraines/severe headaches used CAM more frequently than those without (49.5% vs 33.9%, P < .0001); differences persisted after adjustment (adjusted odds ratio = 1.29, 95% confidence interval [1.15, 1.45]). Mind–body therapies (eg, deep breathing exercises, meditation, yoga) were used most commonly. More than 50% of adults with migraines/severe headaches reporting CAM use had not discussed it with their health care provider. Nonetheless, those with migraines/severe headaches used CAM more often than those without because of provider recommendation and because conventional treatments were perceived as ineffective or too costly. Correlates of CAM use among adults with migraines/severe headaches included anxiety, joint or low back pain, alcohol use, higher education, and living in the western USA. Only 4.5% of adults with migraines/severe headaches reported using CAM to specifically treat their migraines/severe headaches.Conclusions.— CAM is used more often among adults with migraines/severe headaches than those without. However, few report using CAM to specifically treat migraines/severe headaches. Mind–body therapies are used most frequently. Further research is needed to understand the effectiveness and mechanisms of CAM treatments in adults with migraines/severe headaches.

Our objective was to determine patterns, reasons for, and correlates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in US adults with common neurological conditions. We compared CAM use between adults with and without common neurological conditions (regular headaches, migraines, back pain with sciatica, strokes, dementia, seizures, or memory loss) using the 2007 National Health Interview Survey of 23,393 sampled US adults. Adults with common neurological conditions used CAM more frequently than those without (44.1 vs. 32.6%, p < 0.0001); differences persisted after adjustment. For each CAM modality, adults with common neurological conditions were more likely to use CAM than those without these conditions. Nearly half of adults with back pain with sciatica, memory loss, and migraines reported use of CAM. Mind/body therapies were used the most; alternative medical systems were used the least. Over 50% of adults with common neurological conditions who used CAM had not discussed their use with their health care provider. Those with neurological conditions used CAM more often than those without because of provider recommendation, or because conventional treatments were perceived ineffective or too costly. Significant correlates of CAM use among adults with common neurological conditions include higher than high school education, anxiety in the prior year, living in the west, being a former smoker, and light alcohol use. CAM is used more frequently among adults with common neurological conditions than those without. More research on the efficacy of CAM use for common neurological conditions is warranted.

Objective. The study objective was to describe self-reported advance care planning, health care preferences, use of advance directives, and health perceptions in a very elderly community-dwelling sample. Methods. We interviewed surviving participants of the original cohort of the Framingham Heart Study who were cognitively intact and attended a routine research examination between February 2004 and October 2005. Participants were queried about discussions about end-of-life care, preferences for care, documentation of advance directives, and health perceptions. Results. Among 220 community-dwelling respondents, 67% were women with a mean age of 88 years (range 84–100 years). Overall, 69% discussed their wishes for medical care at the end of life with someone, but only 17% discussed their wishes with a physician or health care provider. Two thirds had a health care proxy, 55% had a living will, and 41% had both. Most (80%) respondents preferred comfort care over life-extending care, and 71% preferred to die at home; however, substantially fewer respondents said they would rather die than receive specific life-prolonging interventions (chronic ventilator [63%] or feeding tube [64%]). Many were willing to endure distressing health states, with fewer than half indicating that they would rather die than live out their life in a great deal of pain (46%) or be confused and/or forgetful (45%) all of the time. Conclusions. Although the vast majority of very elderly community-dwellers in this sample appear to prefer comfort measures at the end of life, many said they were willing to endure specific life-prolonging interventions and distressing health states to avoid death. Our results highlight the need for physicians to better understand patients' preferences and goals of care to help them make informed decisions at the end of life.

Although guidelines recommend that clinicians consider life expectancy before screening older women for breast cancer, many older women with limited life expectancies are screened. We aimed to identify factors important to mammography screening decisions among women aged 80 and older compared to women aged 65–79.

In this study of 100 311 women younger than 65 years of age with stage I to stage IIIA breast cancer, women with disabilities had lower rates of breast-conserving surgery and higher all-cause and b... Background: Breast-conserving surgery combined with axillary lymph node dissection and radiotherapy or mastectomy are definitive treatments for women with early-stage breast cancer. Little is known...