Acupuncture utilization in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of acupuncture utilization in Taiwan by people over 20 years of age.


METHODS
Stratified cluster sampling was used to randomly select 20 villages and neighborhoods (townships), a total of 8,280 people, from northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information during home visits. A total of 5,805 questionnaires were valid for use in the study.


RESULTS
The complete rate of home visits was 70.1%; 73.2% of those interviewed recognized acupuncture as one of the common therapeutic methods used in traditional Chinese medicine, whereas only 12.4% had received acupuncture treatment. Typical interviewees who had received acupuncture treatment were generally ethnic from southern Fukien and aged from 30-39 years; 58.3% of the 716 interviewees had received acupuncture treatment from licensed practitioners, while the remainder were treated by non-licensed practitioners.


CONCLUSIONS
The response rate to the questionnaire was high (70.1%). However, the percentage of people who had received acupuncture treatment was only 12.4%, while many people (73.2%) were familiar with it. Approximately 40% of those who received acupuncture treatment did so from non-licensed practitioners. This may reveal either a lack of awareness by the public or a lack of public protection of health and safety.
Chou
P
P
Community Medicine Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Lai
M Y
MY
Chung
C
C
Chen
J M
JM
Chen
C F
CF
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013624:Taiwan