Health Professionals

People who visit health professionals tend to be older than the general population because illness increases with age. However, the proportion of the population who visited complementary health therapists was highest between the ages of 25 and 64 years. The lower rates for people aged 65 years and over contrasted with the rate of visits to other health professionals which increased steadily with increasing age. The reasons for this difference might include lower levels of acceptance of complementary therapies by older people. Alternatively, older people may have different treatment priorities than do younger people because their health on average is worse while their incomes are generally lower.