Description

FOKYERBYR reports whether the person had seen a Hierbero/Hierbista, Yerbero/Yerbera, in the past 12 months. Please see the Comparability and Universe Tabs for more information on changes to the universe of this variable over time.

Folk medicine was one of many alternative health treatment modalities included in the Complementary and Alternative Health Supplements. Although the 2002 Supplement asked about the use of a generic "practitioner for folk medicine," the later Supplements asked about the use of particular kinds of traditional healers, including curanderos, Native American Healers/Medicine Men, Shamans, sobadors, and Hierberos/Hierbistas or Yerberas/Yerberos. In 2007 and 2012, if sample adults and children gave a positive response to FOKYERBYR, they were asked a series of follow-up questions about topics such as reasons for using folk medicine and medical conditions for which they used folk medicine. Follow up questions were not asked of sample adults and children giving a positive response to FOKYERBYR in 2017.

Definitions 

Comparability

Please review the information below before making comparisons across time with this variable.

In 2007, sample adults and sample children were asked if they had seen this specific practitioner of traditional medicine in the past year. In 2012, sample adults and sample children aged four and older were shown a card with specific types of traditional healers and asked if they had ever seen any of these types of healers (FOKEV) and which ones they had seen. Persons who indicated they had seen a specific type of traditional healer(s) were then asked if they had seen that specific type of traditional healer in the past 12 months. In 2017, sample adults and sample children aged four and older and were instead asked whether they had seen a practitioner for traditional medicine "such as a Shaman, curandero, Yerbero, sobador, or Native American Healer" in the past 12 months (FOKYR). Those who indicated that they had were then asked which type of traditional healer(s) they had seen in the past 12 months.

The contents and ordering of the list vary from year to year, but always include Curanderos (expanded to Curanderos, Machis, or Parcheros in 2012), Hierberos/Hierbistas or Yerberos/as, Shamans, Native American Healers/Medicine men, and Sobadors. Please refer to the "Survey Text" tab for the full list of traditional healers in each year. Respondents who indicated that they had ever seen one of the traditional medicine practitioners from the list were then asked if they had seen the practitioner(s) they indicated in the past 12 months for a specific health problem or condition in 2007 and 2012.

Universe

Availability

• 2007, 2012, 2017

Weights

• 2007, 2017 : SAMPWEIGHT
• 2012 : SUPP4WT