Discriminators of complementary and alternative medicine provider use among men with HIV/AIDS

Objectives: To examine comprehensively the potential correlates of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioner use among men with HIV/AIDS. Methods: Men (n = 122) recruited from HIV/AIDS service organizations completed extensive written surveys. Questions comprised several domains that have been thought or demonstrated to influence individuals to use CAM, and also addressed respondents' social networks. Results: Discriminant analyses revealed 2 social network variables and 2 attitudinal variables proved statistically significant when controlling for relationships among variables. Conclusions: The significant contribution of social influence/social networks in choosing CAM modalities demonstrated has not heretofore been examined in CAM user studies; implications for future research are discussed.