The profile of women who consult alternative health practitioners in Australia.

Objectives: To compare the characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) users and non-users among Australian women.

Design: Cross-sectional postal questionnaire conducted during 1996, forming the baseline survey of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

Participants: Women aged 18-23 years (n = 14 779), 45-50 years (n = 14 099) and 70-75 years (n = 12 939), randomly selected from the Health Insurance Commission database, with over-sampling of women from rural and remote areas of Australia.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among elderly Australian women who have cancer.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the general population has grown considerably in recent years. However, little is known about the prevalence of CAM use amongst women with cancer. Our research provides the first step in addressing this gap in knowledge by reporting on a survey of 9375 Australian women aged 73-78.