The trends of utilization in traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan from 2000 to 2010

Abstract

Introduction:There is no study exploring the trend of utilization in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from 2000 to 2010. The objective of this study was to investigate the trends of TCM utilization among 3 cross-sectional cohorts of 2000, 2005, and 2010.Method:This study was a cross-sectional analysis of TCM utilization over time. We compared the mean TCM visits among 3 cohorts of 2000, 2005, and 2010. We derived 3 randomly sampled cohorts of nearly 1 million representative beneficiaries in each of 2000, 2005, and 2010 from National Health Insurance Research Database for this research. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the relative relationship in categorical variables correlating to TCM users. The percentage change (% change) in mean TCM visits between 2000 and 2005 (2010) was used to evaluate the trends of TCM utilization during the period.Results:The ratio of TCM users increased throughout cohorts. The ratio of TCM users among women was more than that among men in all cohorts of 2000, 2005, and 2010 (adjusted odds ratio = 1.47; 1.52; 1.62). The mean TCM visits increased from 2000 to 2010. The percentage change in mean TCM visits among women was more than that among men. The group aged less than 20 years had the least percentage change in mean TCM visits (18.8%); nevertheless, the group aged 20 to 34 years had the largest change (30.2%). The high socioeconomic status group had the largest percentage change in mean visits to TCM, whereas the central region had the least percentage change. Neoplasms had the greatest increase in percentage change in mean TCM visits among all disease categories; in contrast, diseases of the respiratory system had the greatest decrease.Conclusion:Both the ratio of TCM users and mean TCM visits increased gradually from 2000 to 2005 and further to 2010. Women used TCM more than men, and this is expected to continue in the future. The high socioeconomic status group used TCM more and more over time. The picture of TCM need among different types of cancer patients should be explored in further research because of the substantial increase in TCM utilization for the disease category of neoplasms.

Trends in use of acupuncture among adults in Taiwan from 2002 to 2011: A nationwide population-based study

“…A previous study on the characteristics of acupuncture users in Taiwan demonstrated that the ratio of acupuncture users was fairly stable during the first few years of the establishment of the NHI program (from 6% in 1996 to 6.2% in 2002) [ 29 ]. However, our study revealed that from 2002 to 2011, acupuncture utilization increased further from 7.98% to 10.9%, which was consistent with the increasing trend in overall TCM users in Taiwan (from 26.59% in 2000 to 28.66% in 2010) [ 3 ]. The percentage of acupuncture usage in Taiwan was higher than that in Japan (6.7% in 2006) [ 4 ], Australia (3.4% in 2011) [ 30 ], the U.S.A. (1.5% in 2007) [ 9 ], the UK (1.6% in 2004) [ 31 ] and South Korea (7.4%) [ 6 ].…”

“…Of the different types of CAM, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been well defined as an ancient medical system by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH, U.S.A.) [ 2 ]. The trends in TCM utilization have also increased gradually in Taiwan, and more than 28% of Taiwanese consulted a TCM service in 2010 [ 3 ].…”

“…The National Health Insurance (NHI) program was established in 1995 in Taiwan, and more than 99% of the population were enrolled in the NHI program by the end of 2010 [ 3 ]. The NHI program covers not only Western medical services but also ambulatory care in TCM.…”

Utilization of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine among patients with Alzheimer's disease in Taiwan: a nationwide population‐based study

“…Besides, TCM use in patients with AD was still lower than that in patients with other chronic illnesses, such as allergic rhinitis and asthma . Patients with neurogenic disorders, including AD, had a low utilization rate of TCM . One of the possibilities is that there was limited clinical evidence to report the efficacy of TCM in the treatment of AD.…”

Analysis of the Medical Market Share of Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) in Taiwan Using National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD)

“…뿐만 아니라 국민건강보험제도 등 의료제도적 94) In 1997∼2011, 14.28% of the patients visited the TEAM clinic for SLE treatment 95) Diseases of the genitourinary system (16.49%) Menopausal syndrome In 1997∼2004, 64.9% of 45∼55 year old women had experience using TEAM 96) In 2002, 75.1% of patients diagnosed with menopausal syndrome had experience using TEAM 97) Infertility In 2000∼2011, 96.17% of patients diagnosed with infertility had experience using TEAM 98) Renal 104) *In parentheses, frequency of use of TEAM for Western medicine use by ICD-9 disease classification. Extracted from Yuh-Hsiang Yeh et al 105) . Table II.…”