Description

COMTHATT indicates whether the person had used chiropractic care (2002) or either chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (2007) to treat heart attack. This question was asked of sample adults age 18+ (in 2002 and 2007) and of sample children (in 2007 only), if they had such treatment in the past year (COMYR) and used it to treat a specific health problem or condition (COMTREAT).

Related Variables

Heart attack was one of 72 possible specific conditions that sample adults (but not sample children) could report treating with chiropractic care (2002) or with either chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (2007). The other such conditions are:

• excessive use of alcohol or tobacco (COMTALCTOB, 2007 only)

• angina (COMTANGINA)

• anxiety or depression (COMTANXDEP, 2002 only)

• arthritis, lupus, or fibromyalgia (COMTARTHLF, 2002 only)

• back pain or problem (COMTBACPAIN)

• bipolar disorder (COMTBIPOL, 2007 only)

• birth defect (COMTBIRTHD)

• anemia and blood disorders--adults (COMTBLOOD, 2007 only)

• bowel problems and constipation (COMTBOWL, 2002 only)

• cataracts (COMTCATAR, 2002 only)

• chronic bronchitis (COMTCBRON)

• cholesterol (COMTCHOL)

• congestive heart failure (COMTCONGHF, 2002 only)

• coronary heart disease (COMTCORON)

• other nerve damage, including carpal tunnel syndrome (COMTCTS)

• benign tumors or cysts (COMTCYST)

• dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease (COMTDEMENT, 2007 only)

• dental pain (COMTDENPAIN)

• diabetic retinopathy (COMTDIABRET, 2002 only)

• emphysema (COMTEMPH)

• excessive sleepiness during the day (COMTESLEEPY)

• fibromyalgia (COMTFIBRO, 2007 only)

• fracture, bone or joint injury (COMTFRACT)

• glaucoma (COMTGLAUC, 2002 only)

• gout (COMTGOUT, 2007 only)

• gynecologic problem (COMTGYN)

• hernia (COMTHERN)

• hypertension (COMTHYPER)

• inflammatory bowel disease (COMTINFB, 2007 only)

• stomach or intestinal illness (COMTINTEST)

• irritable bowel (COMTIRRB, 2007 only)

• irregular heartbeat (COMTIRRH, 2002 only)

• jaw pain (COMTJAWPAIN)

• joint pain or stiffness/other joint condition (COMTJNTPAIN)

• weak or failing kidneys (COMTKIDNEY)

• poor circulation in legs (COMTLCIRC)

• liver problem (COMTLIVER)

• lupus (COMTLUPUS, 2007 only)

• macular degeneration (COMTMACD, 2002 only)

• allergy to medication (COMTMALL, 2002 only)

• mania or psychosis (COMTMANIA, 2007 only)

• memory loss or loss of other cognitive function (COMTMEMLOS, 2007 only)

• menopause (COMTMENOP)

• missing limbs (fingers, toes or digits), amputee (COMTMLIMB)

• multiple sclerosis (COMTMSCLER, 2002 only)

• neck pain or problem (COMTNECPAIN)

• neuropathy (COMTNEUROP, 2002 only)

• circulation problems (other than in the legs) (COMTNLCIRC)

• other allergies--adults (COMTOALLA, 2007 only)

• other heart condition or disease (COMTOHART)

• other infectious diseases (COMTOINF, 2007 only)

• other injury (COMTOINJ)

• knee problems (not arthritis, not joint injury) (COMTOKNEE)

• osteoporosis, tendinitis (COMTOSTEO)

• Parkinson's disease (COMTPARK, 2002 only)

• polio (myelitis), paralysis, para/quadriplegia (COMTPOLIO)

• prostate trouble or impotence (COMTPROST)

• recurring pain (COMTRECPAIN, 2002 only)

• Rheumatoid arthritis (COMTRHEUM, 2007 only)

• schizophrenia (COMTSCHIZ, 2007 only)

• senility (COMTSENILE)

• skin problems--adults (COMTSKINA)

• sprain or strain (COMTSPRAIN)

• stress (COMTSTRESS, 2007 only)

• stroke (COMTSTROKE)

• substance abuse, other than alcohol or tobacco (COMTSUBST, 2007 only)

• thyroid problem (COMTTHYR, 2002 only)

• ulcer (COMTULCER)

• varicose veins, hemorrhoids (COMTVEIN)

• other (COMTOTH2, COMTOTH3)

Additionally, there are 31 other conditions that both sample adults and sample children could report treating with chiropractor. 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 heart attack by any of those methods, although 3 of the methods are not available as treatments for specific health problems in both years. Hypnosis and movement techniques were included as treatments for specific health problems in the 2007 survey only. See HYPYR and MOVALEXYR for more information. Conversely, prayer was included as a treatment for specific health problems in the 2002 survey only, when just sample adults were asked about their use of alternative and complementary medicine. See PRASELFEV for more information. Analysts interested in the treatment of heart attack by other alternative therapies should see COMYR for the full list of alternative medicine treatments and a summary of other chiropractor-related questions, including definitions.

Comparability

Because of a change in question wording between 2002 and 2007, researchers should exercise caution when analyzing this variable over time. In 2002 the variables in the "chiropractic" group covered "chiropractic care" only, while those in 2007 covered "chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation."

Universe

Availability

• 2002, 2007

Weights

• 2002, 2007 : SAMPWEIGHT