Description

For sample adults age 18+ and sample children under 18 in 2007 who had seen a practitioner for chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation in the past 12 months (COMYR) and had used chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation to treat a to treat a specific health problem or condition (COMTREAT), COMTGUM indicates whether the person had used chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation to treat gum disease.

Related Variables

Gum disease was one of 31 possible specific conditions that both sample adults and sample children could report treating with chiropractic care (2002) or with either chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (2007). The other such conditions are:

• Attention Deficit Disorder (COMTADD, 2007 only)

• anxiety (COMTANX, 2007 only)

• arthritis (COMTARTH, 2007 only)

• autism (COMTAUT, 2007 only)

• cancer (COMTCANC)

• head or chest cold (COMTCOLD)

• constipation needing medication (COMTCONST, 2007 only)

• depression (COMTDEPRES, 2007 only)

• diabetes (COMTDIAB)

• allergy to food (COMTFALL)

• influenza or pneumonia (COMTFLU, 2007 only)

• asthma (COMTASTH)

• hay fever (COMTHAY)

• hearing problem (COMTHEAR)

• insomnia (COMTINSOM)

• menstrual problems (COMTMENST)

• migraine or severe headache (COMTMIG)

• other developmental problem (COMTODD)

• other lung or breathing problem (COMTOLUNG)

• other musculoskeletal problem (COMTOMUSC, 2007 only)

• phobias (COMTPHOBIA, 2007 only)

• acid reflux (COMTREFLUX, 2007 only)

• regular headaches (COMTREGHEAD, 2007 only)

• mental retardation (COMTRET)

• seizures (COMTSEIZ)

• sinusitis (COMTSINUS)

• urinary problem (COMTURIN)

• vision problem (COMTVISION)

• weight problem (COMTWEIGHT)

• other (COMTOTH1)

Additionally, there are 72 other conditions sample adults only could report treating with chiropractor, and 28 other conditions that could be reported for sample children only. For the full list of conditions, see COMTREAT.

Chiropractor is one of 16 modalities of alternative medicine that were included in the 2002 and 2007 Alternative Health Supplements. Persons could report treating gum disease by 15 of those methods. (The omitted alternative method is prayer, which was included as a treatment for specific health problems in the 2002 survey only. See PRASELFEV for more information.) Analysts interested in the treatment of gum disease by other alternative therapies should see COMYR for the full list of alternative medicine treatments and a summary of other chiropractor-related questions, as well as definitions.

Comparability

This variable is only available for 2007, when respondents were asked about their use of "chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation" to treat health conditions. Treatment of many other specific conditions was covered in the 2002 Alternative Health Supplement. However, in 2002 respondents were asked to report the use of "chiropractic care" (but not osteopathic manipulation) to treat particular conditions. Researchers should therefore exercise caution when conducting analyses that include chiropractic condition variables from both 2002 and 2007.

Universe

Availability

• 2007

Weights

• 2007 : SAMPWEIGHT