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Background: Australians report consulting with a naturopaths or herbalists to improve their wellbeing, yet little is known about the associations between these consultations and the patients' health behaviours. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship between health behaviour and consultations with naturopaths or herbalists in three age cohorts of Australian women., Methods: Women aged 19-25 years, 31-36 years, and 62-67 years from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) were surveyed regarding smoking, alcohol or drug use, physical activity and dietary behaviour; and whether they consulted with naturopath/herbalists in the last 12 months. Associations were analysed using multivariable logistic regression., Results: A total of 9151 (19-25 years), 8200 (31-36 years) and 11,344 (62-67 years) women were included in the analysis. Between 7.3 and 11.9% of women reported to have consulted with naturopaths/herbalists in the last 12 months. Women of all cohorts consulting with naturopath/herbalist were less likely to smoke (19-25 yrs.: Odds Ratio [OR] 0.61; 31-36 years: OR 0.58; 62-67 years: OR 0.29), more likely to report at least moderate levels of physical activity (19-25 yrs.: OR 1.41; 31-36 years: OR 1.34; 62-67 years: OR 1.34), and the use of vegetarian diets(19-25 yrs.: OR 1.40; 31-36 years: OR 1.77; 62-67 years: OR 2.28), compared to women not consulting with naturopaths/herbalists. Women consulting with naturopaths/herbalists however were also more likely to have used marijuana (19-25 yrs.: OR 1.18; 31-36 years: OR 1.42), or illicit drugs in the last 12 months (19-25 yrs.: OR 1.24; 31-36 years: OR 1.40)., Conclusions: Consultations with a naturopath or herbalist are associated with positive health behaviours that are protective of internationally important non-communicable diseases. Psychoactive drug use is also reported among women visiting a naturopath or herbalist. Further research is needed to understand the role naturopaths play in advising patients with regards to health and non-healthy behaviours.

Objective: Depression is a common comorbidity in patients with cardiovascular conditions. This study aims to assess the association between comorbid depression and health-promoting behavior in middle-aged and older Australian women with hypertension or heart disease., Methods: Data are from a subset of 45 and Up Study participants with diagnosed chronic illness (n = 1,925). Health behaviors including smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity were assessed. Associations of depression with health behaviors in women with hypertension or heart disease were analyzed using unadjusted and adjusted (for chronic conditions and demographic measures) logistic regression models., Results: A total of 666 women with hypertension and 220 women with heart disease were included in the analysis. In adjusted analyses, women with hypertension and comorbid depression were 2.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.02-5.46) times more likely to be risky or high-risk drinkers and 55% (adjusted odds ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.73) less likely to be highly physically active, compared with women without depression. Women with heart disease and comorbid depression were 65% (adjusted odds ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.95) less likely to be highly physically active, compared with women without depression., Conclusions: This study provides the first data indicating that depression may be a barrier to health-promoting behavior in middle-aged and older women with hypertension or heart disease. Given that physical inactivity and risky alcohol consumption are important risk factors for aggravation of cardiologic conditions, health-promoting behaviors should be specifically targeted in the treatment of women with comorbid depression., (Copyright © 2019 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Yoga and meditation are predominantly utilised by healthy well-educated young women, but little is known about utilisation by older chronically ill women. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of yoga and meditation use among middle-to-higher aged Australian women with chronic conditions., Materials and Methods: This is a sub-study of the 45 and Up Study including 1925 Australian women aged 53-95 years diagnosed with chronic conditions (asthma, depression, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis). Information on yoga and meditation use frequencies (categories: 'no yoga', 'at least once daily', 'at least once weekly', and 'at least once monthly'), self-perceived effectiveness and communication with health care providers were assessed via self-report. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify independent predictors of yoga and meditation use, using SPSS 24.0., Results: Overall 6.8% and 10.7% of women reported the use of yoga and meditation respectively. Meditation was rarely practiced supervised (11.7%), compared to significant higher rates in yoga (53.2%). Predictors for yoga and meditation use were marital status (married/in relationship > not married/in relationship), higher health related hardiness, and higher education, whereas obesity, and diabetes decreased likelihood of use. While the majority found yoga and meditation helpful for their condition, the use was rarely monitored by or discussed with health care practitioners., Conclusion: This study finds that yoga and meditation are used by middle-to-higher aged Australian women with chronic illnesses. The lack of communication with health care providers is concerning and might hinder coordinated and effective health care around chronic illness. Further research is necessary to help understand possible concurrent health care use and thereby help inform safe, effective and coordinate health seeking amongst those with chronic illness., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)