The use of unorthodox therapies and marginal practitioners.

This study examines the extent of utilization of unorthodox therapies and marginal practitioners among patients with one broad category of chronic disease, rheumatic disorders. Almost all respondents (94%) had tried some unorthodox remedy or practitioner, and several had used 13 different unorthodox remedies or practitioners. There was no relationship between age, sex, race, geographic location and magnitude of usage of treatments. There was no statistically significant relationship between education and income and amount of usage, although there was some variation by income group in which unorthodox remedies were employed. Thus, this study provides evidence that some elements of folk medicine practice continue to exist among most segments of the American population and this issue deserves further research. An important role for medical sociologists is to examine disease and disease treatment from the perspectives of the lay culture, as well as that of the medical community.