Description

MASLCONVHP reports if persons informed a conventional medical professional about their use of massage therapy. Please see the Comparability, Universe, and Survey Text Tabs for important information on changes in how this variable was collected and constructed over time.

For information about the full range of variables related to massage therapy, including definitions, see MASYR. For related variables and more information, please see TABDOM1, or use the search function or IPUMS NHIS drop-down menus.

Comparability

Prior to 2012, sample adults who had seen a practitioner for massage during the past 12 months and were asked their reasons for using this therapy.

Beginning in 2012, sample adults and sample children aged 4-17were instead asked to select three of sixteen therapies that were most important and only asked the series of questions related to treating health problems, symptoms, or conditions as well as reasons for and importance of use for these top three therapies. Persons who did not include massage therapy among their top three CAM therapies did not answer follow up questions for this therapy beginning in 2012 and are reported as responding "no".

Prior to 2012, persons were asked if they had told any conventional medical practitioner about their use of this therapy, and asked a follow up question about which practitioners they had told. The list of conventional medical practitioners on the card shown to respondents was shorter in 2002 than in 2007 and no specified list of conventional medical practitioners was included in 2012. Thus, a "No" response under the 2002 question wording might have been a "Yes" response wording of the question in later years. Researchers should thus exercise caution in comparing results across years.

Universe

Availability

• 2002, 2007, 2012

Weights

• 2002, 2007 : SAMPWEIGHT
• 2012 : SUPP4WT