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A new survey of United States military veterans with chronic pain shows prevalent use of multiple natural products with, or in some cases, as substitutes for, prescribed pain medications. Although natural products, including dietary supplements, are commonly used, there is little information about their use for chronic pain. While many of the survey participants expressed concerns about safety, a significant proportion had not discussed their natural product use with their health care providers. Many, however, expressed their desire to have more informed conversations about natural product use with their providers.
The survey, which was piloted with 52 participants in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Whole Health Options and Pain Education (wHOPE) pragmatic trial, was developed by researchers from the Pain Management Collaboratory to gain information about natural product use for chronic pain. The survey was co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (led by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health), the Department of Defense, and the VA. Findings were published in the journal Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health.
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