The study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that use of home remedies is common among people 65 and older but it varies among ethnic groups most likely due to cultural differences rather than access to health care, economic hardship or health status.
"Culturally based beliefs about health and appropriate strategies for maintaining health may provide better explanations for ethnic difference in home remedy use," said Joseph Grzywacz, assistant professor of family and community medicine.
The researchers analyzed use of two kinds of home remedies: food-based, including teas, plant extracts and baking soda, and 'other' remedies such as over-the-counter creams and ointments, petroleum products and plant-based substances such as aloe. The home remedies were used both for chronic diseases and symptoms of more acute illnesses.
"Ethnic differences in beliefs about the meaning of illness, appropriate approaches for health management and individual responsibility for health may explain why black and Native American elders are more likely to use home remedies than white elders," Grzywacz said.
He noted that other studies of younger adults show that blacks view conventional medical treatments 'less favorably' than whites and believe home remedies are a viable form of treatment for minor ailments.
All participants in the study came from Robeson and Harnett counties, two largely rural counties in North Carolina with a high proportion of ethnic minorities.
"We found that the majority of older adults use some type of home remedy for health purposes," Grzywacz and his colleagues said. Nearly half of the white seniors in the trial use home remedies.
But home remedy use was substantially greater among elders of ethnic minority groups, he said.
The researchers checked for other possible factors influencing the use of remedies, such as availability of care, economic hardship and health disparities. But when they adjusted for socio-economic inequalities between blacks and white, "ethnic differences in home remedy use became larger rather than smaller."
Grzywacz added that home remedy use is widespread among elder adults regardless of ethnicity, suggesting that these practices play an important role in elders' overall strategy for health management.