title: Treatment-seeking behavior of people with epilepsy in Taiwan: a preliminary study.
abstract: To understand the treatment-seeking behavior of people with epilepsy (PWE), 403 PWE were surveyed using structured face-to-face interviews. Nearly half (49.1%) of them had previously tried complementary and alternative medicine (CAM); traditional Chinese medicine (51.5%) and temple worship (48.0%) were the most frequently used forms of CAM. In the 155 patients with adult-onset epilepsy, seeking CAM was substantially more common among females (OR=2.11, 95% CI=1.05-4.24, P=0.036), patients with frequent seizures (OR=2.68, 95% CI=1.30-5.53, P=0.008), patients with less educated parents (OR=2.16, 95% CI=1.06-4.41, P=0.034), and patients with religious beliefs (OR=2.84, 95% CI=1.23-6.56, P=0.015). In the 248 patients with childhood-onset epilepsy, frequent seizures (OR=2.23, 95% CI=1.32-3.77, P=0.003) and lower level of parental education (OR=2.71, 95% CI=1.45-5.06, P=0.002) were significantly associated with CAM use. The patients who seek CAM before receiving conventional medical treatment decreased after implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) (34/188 before NHI vs 22/215 after NHI, P=0.023). This study showed that the prevalence of CAM use by PWE in Taiwan is high and that a convenient NHI program can affect treatment-seeking behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yan-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kuan
authors.forename: Der-Jen
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: Chun-Hing
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yiu
authors.forename: Yung-Yung
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shoen-Yoeng
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.forename: Chien
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chien-Chen
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Hsiang-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult