The use of unconventional remedies among HIV-positive men living in California

Abstract

This study compared use of unconventional remedies in two groups of HIV-positive men (N = 63). Employing a multiple-choice questionnaire, the authors assessed the use of and attitudes toward unconventional remedies among two groups of white HIV-positive men similar in age, socioeconomic status, and severity of illness, all of whom lived in Northern California. One group (n = 36) participated in AIDS clinical trial protocols; the other group (n = 27) received health care at a community health center. Participants at all sites expressed positive views upon increasing unconventional remedies. Individuals enrolled in the clinical trial protocols for investigational drugs used unconventional remedies significantly less than the community health center participants, who were enrolled in an open clinical trial of hypericin, an unproven remedy.