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Home-Based Therapies for the Common Cold Among European American and Ethnic Minority Families
The Interface Between Alternative/Complementary and Folk Medicine
Lee M. Pachter, DO;
Tracy Sumner, MA;
Annette Fontan, MD;
Mary Sneed, BS;
Bruce A. Bernstein, PhD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1998;152:1083-1088.
Background Most studies of alternative/complementary medicine use in children have focused on children with chronic illness and have not addressed the more common form of complementary medicine: popular home-based interventions and therapies for common low-morbidity sickness episodes. Also, there has often been a distinction between alternative/complementary medical practices used by the general population and those used by members of ethnic minority groups and commonly referred to as folk medicine or ethnomedicine.
Objective To describe the home-based therapies and practices that parents from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds use to treat the common cold in their children.
Method Interviews with mothers of children coming for care at a number of clinics and physicians' offices. Included were mothers from European American, African American, Puerto Rican, and West Indian–Caribbean heritages.
Results Mean number of home-based remedies for the common cold did not differ among ethnic groups (controlling for maternal age, maternal education, number of children, and health insurance status). There were differences among groups regarding the frequency of use of specific remedies.
Conclusions Home-based remedies for colds in childhood are commonly used. Many of the treatments are complementary to biomedical treatment (ie, antipyretics, over-the-counter cold remedies, fluids). Very few are potentially hazardous if taken in moderation. Mothers from ethnic minorities use similar amounts of home-based interventions when compared with mothers from the majority culture.
From the Center for Children's Health and Development, Department of Pediatrics, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Conn (Drs Pachter, Fontan, and Bernstein and Ms Sneed); Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington (Drs Pachter, Fontan, and Bernstein); and Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs (Drs Pachter and Bernstein and Ms Sumner).
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