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Objectives We examined the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) at 3 US pediatric medical centers, comparing a group of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with children presenting with chronic constipation. Materials and Methods Surveys were administered by postal mail and at pediatric IBD centers in San Francisco, Houston, and Atlanta from 2001 to 2003. A comparison group consisting of pediatric patients with chronic constipation also was surveyed. Data were analyzed by t tests and by exact tests of contingency tables. Results In all, 236 surveys were collected from the IBD group; 126 surveys were collected from the chronic constipation comparison group. CAM therapies were used by 50% in the IBD group and 23% in the chronic constipation group. The overall regional breakdown of CAM use in IBD revealed no differences, although the types of CAM therapy used varied by site. The most commonly used CAM therapies in the IBD group were spiritual interventions (25%) and nutritional supplements (25%). Positive predictors for CAM use in IBD include the patient's self-reported overall health, an increase in the number of side effects associated with allopathic medications, white ethnicity, and parental education beyond high school. Conclusions This is the first US study to characterize CAM use in pediatric patients with IBD with another chronic gastrointestinal disorder. CAM use was twice as common with the IBD group compared with the chronic constipation group. Regional variations exist with the types of CAM therapy used. Practitioners should know that half of their pediatric patients with IBD may be using CAM in conjunction with or as an alternative to other treatments and that certain predictors can help identify those using CAM therapies.

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Introduction: According to the records of the Hong Kong Athletic Gala for the Elderly, some sports events have been won by the same group of elderly participants for several consecutive years. What made these elderly athletes different from others? Method: This was a retrospective quantitative study. The health profile data on a total of 125 elderly participants were collected. 36 and 29 were the winners and losers of the Hong Kong Athletic Gala for the Elderly between 2008 and 2010, respectively. The remaining 60 were non-participants. The non-participants came from six elderly centers in different districts in Hong Kong. Health profile parameters were measured using the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, which is used to measure healthy behaviors such as physical activity level, nutrition, stress management, health responsibility, interpersonal relations and spiritual growth. Results: About 41.7% (n = 15) and 80.0% (n = 48) of the elderly (mean age = 74 ± 9.0) in the winner and non-participant groups with chronic diseases. There were significant (p < 0.05) differences in fat percentage, mobility, and body mass index among the three groups of elderly. Five out of six domains in the HPLP-II: physical activity, nutrition, interpersonal relations, spiritual growth and health responsibility, were siginificantly different among two groups. Conclusion: It could be concluded that elderly people who had better health status and lifestyle, and who undertook regular exercise, fared better than others in sports events.