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Introduction: Benefits, risks, and the increasing popularity of yoga use warrant assessing yoga practice prevalence and users' profiles. This study describes trends in yoga practice exclusively among American adults from 2002 to 2017, compares the profile of yoga users, and identifies factors related to yoga use over time. Materials and Methods: This study is a secondary analysis done in 2019 and 2020 using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 data. Population weights were used to obtain statistically accurate estimates of yoga use prevalence for the U.S. population. Descriptive statistics were used to profile the sociodemographic and health-related characteristics of yoga users. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with yoga use in each cohort defined by the NHIS year. Results: Yoga practice prevalence nearly tripled from 5.1% in 2002 to 13.7% in 2017 (weighted estimate 10,386,456 and 32,761,194 American adults, respectively). Typical yoga users were young non-Hispanic single white female adults with bachelor or higher education and health insurance, and resided in the west region of the United States. Yoga use pattern change over time was significantly related to only younger age (p < 0.001) but not to other sociodemographic or health-related factors. Conclusions: Yoga has gained increasing popularity in the past two decades among American adults, with younger adults being the driving force. Yoga appears to be adopted for general well-being or prevention more than for specific disease treatment. Future research should evaluate how yoga can be effectively and safely integrated into preventive medicine strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe patterns of conventional health care (CH) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among U.S. adults reporting recent joint symptoms in a nationally representative sample. Design: This study uses the adult alternative medicine supplement from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Location: United States. Subjects: Nationally representative cross-sectional sample of non-institutionalized U.S. residents. Of 34,525 respondents who answered the alternative medicine supplement, approximately 30% (n = 10,964) reported recent pain symptoms (pain, aching, stiffness). Outcome measures: Among adults reporting joint symptoms, we examine reported use of CH, CAM, both CH and CAM, or neither specifically for joint symptoms or joint condition. Results: Among adults reporting joint symptoms in the past 30 days, 64% reported using only CH for their joint pain, whereas ∼10% reported using CAM. Among those using CAM for their joint symptoms, 83% also sought help from a CH practitioner. CAM-only users comprised only 1.6% of the sample of joint pain sufferers. Those who reported using both CH and CAM for joint pain were more likely to report a diagnosis of a joint condition compared with CAM-only users, but also reported higher comorbidities and worse self-reported health. Conclusion: Most U.S. adults reporting recent joint pain seek care only from a CH practitioner, although among the 10% who report CAM use for joint conditions, a strong majority also report seeking care from a CH practitioner. CH and CAM providers should consistently inquire about other forms of treatment their patients are using for specific symptoms to provide effective integrative health care management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]