title: Investigation on Chinese herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhea: implication from a nationwide prescription database in Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Primary dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological condition, for which Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been widely used in addition to western medicine. The aim of this study is to explore CHM commonly used to treat dysmenorrhea in young Chinese women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women aged from 13 to 25 years with single diagnosis of primary dysmenorrhea.
  
  
  METHODS
  CHM prescriptions made for primary dysmenorrhea women during 1998-2008 were extracted to build up CHM prescription database. Association rule mining was used to explore the prevalent CHM combination patterns in treating primary dysmenorrhea.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prevalence and mechanisms of CHM combinations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally 57,315 prescriptions were analyzed and, on average, 5.3 CHM was used in one prescription. Dang-Gui-Shao-Yao-San (DGSYS) was the most commonly used herbal formula (27.2%), followed by Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San (JWXYS) (20.7%) and Wen-Jing-Tang (WJT) (20.5%). Corydalis yanhusuo and Cyperus rotundus were the most commonly used single herb, found in 33.1% and 29.2% of all prescriptions. Additionally, C. yanhusuo with C. rotundus is the most commonly used two CHM in combination, accounting for 14.24% of all prescriptions, followed by DGSYS with C. yanhusuo (10.47%). Multi-target effects on primary dysmenorrhea, such as analgesia, mood modifying and hormone adjustment, were found among commonly prescribed CHM in this study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study discovered the potential importance of C. yanhusuo, C. rotundus and DGSYS in treating primary dysmenorrhea. Further clinical trials or bench studies are warranted based on the results.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chinese Internal Medicine, Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung, University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsing-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Chinese Internal Medicine, Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung, University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, Department of Reproductive Medicine, La Jolla, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Irene H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Research and Education, National Yang-Ming University Hospital, I-Lan, Taiwan; Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, School of Medicine, National, Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: yuchn.chen@googlemail.com.
authors.forename: Yu-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Chinese Internal Medicine, Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung, University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sien-Hung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Division of Chinese Internal Medicine, Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung, University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming, University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiun-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016208:Databases, Factual; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Association rule mining; Chinese herbal medicine; Primary dysmenorrhea; The National Health Insurance Research Database