Factors Associated with the Use of Meditation, U.S. Adults 2017.
James Macinko, Dawn M Upchurch
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) August 5, 2019 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2019.0206 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional descriptive analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Adult, civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population (2017 National Health Interview Survey respondents) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Chronic disease Cross-sectional studies Health behavior Middle aged Health services accessibility United states Female Young adult Health care access |
| Key findings | Over 46 million U.S. adults, about 19% of the adult civilian noninstitutionalized population, reported practicing some type of meditation in the past year. The authors report that meditation use is predicted by the presence of a health problem, cost or access barriers to conventional medical care, and individual characteristics including younger age, female sex, and sexual minority status. |
Abstract
Objectives: Relatively little is known about who uses various types of meditation or how health problems and health care barriers might simultaneously impact its use. This article describes the current prevalence of meditation and identifies significant individual and health system-related factors associated with its use.
Design: Cross-sectional descriptive analysis of the 2017 National Health Interview Survey analyzed in 2019. Setting/Location: United States. Subjects: The adult, civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Outcome measures: Self-reported use of any type of meditation in past year (mantra, mindfulness, spiritual, guided imagery, and progressive relaxation) or as part of yoga or t'ai chi practice. Control variables included demographic characteristics, health status, risk behaviors, and health system-related factors (self-reported barriers and facilitators to health care access) hypothesized to be associated with greater meditation use.
Results: Over 46 million people (19% of the adult, civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population) currently practice some type of meditation. Three main factors predict meditation use: the presence of a health problem (chronic disease, pain, anxiety/depression, and sleeping problems), cost or access barriers to conventional medical care, and individual characteristics (younger age, female sex, and sexual minority status).
Conclusions: Meditation is one of the most common forms of complementary and alternative medicine in the United States today. While its health benefits are still emerging, public health practitioners and clinicians should be aware of the increasing use of these therapies to treat common health problems, their relatively low prevalence among some groups that might benefit from them (such as older people, those with less healthy lifestyles, and men), and their higher use among those who face barriers to obtaining conventional care.