Integrative Medicine Patients Have High Stress, Pain, and Psychological Symptoms

Integrative medicine (IM) is a rapidly growing field whose providers report clinical success in treating significant stress, chronic pain, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. While IM therapies have demonstrated efficacy for numerous medical conditions, IM for psychological symptoms has been slower...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Explore (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2015-07, Vol.11 (4), p.296-303
Main Authors: Wolever, Ruth Q., Goel, Nikita S., Roberts, Rhonda S., Caldwell, Karen, Kligler, Benjamin, Dusek, Jeffery A., Perlman, Adam, Dolor, Rowena, Abrams, Donald I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Anxiety - epidemiology
Anxiety - therapy
Chronic Pain - epidemiology
Chronic Pain - psychology
Chronic Pain - therapy
Complementary Therapies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression - epidemiology
Depression - therapy
Fatigue - epidemiology
Female
Humans
Integrative Medicine
Male
Middle Aged
pain
PBRN
psychological disorders
Quality of Life
Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology
stress
Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
Stress, Psychological - therapy
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Summary:Integrative medicine (IM) is a rapidly growing field whose providers report clinical success in treating significant stress, chronic pain, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. While IM therapies have demonstrated efficacy for numerous medical conditions, IM for psychological symptoms has been slower to gain recognition in the medical community. This large, cross-sectional study is the first of its kind to document the psychosocial profiles of 4182 patients at 9 IM clinics that form the BraveNet Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN). IM patients reported higher levels of perceived stress, pain, and depressive symptoms, and lower levels of quality of life compared with national norms. Per provider reports, 60% of patients had at least one of the following: stress (9.3%), fatigue (10.2%), anxiety (7.7%), depression (7.2%), and/or sleep disorders (4.8%). Pain, having both physiological and psychological components, was also included and is the most common condition treated at IM clinics. Those with high stress, psychological conditions, and pain were most frequently treated with acupuncture, IM physician consultation, exercise, chiropractic services, diet/nutrition counseling, and massage. With baseline information on clinical presentation and service utilization, future PBRN studies can examine promising interventions delivered at the clinic to treat stress and psychological conditions.
ISSN:1550-8307
1878-7541
DOI:10.1016/j.explore.2015.04.003