title: Use of Chinese medicine among colorectal cancer patients: a nationwide population-based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional Chinese medicine (CM) appears to be used worldwide, especially by cancer patients. The aim of the present study was to explore CM uses and CM non-users by patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was conducted using registration and claims data sets for 2007 from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with colorectal cancer were identified from the Registry for Catastrophic illness Patients. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios as the measure of association with the use of CM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 61,211 CRC patients diagnosed in 2007 were analysis. Most CM users preferred to visit private clinics (46.9%) with 306,599 visits. In contrast, the majority of CM non-users preferred to visit private hospitals (42.2%) with 538,769 visits. Among all 176,707 cancer-specific CM visit, there were 66.6% visits to CM outpatient department (OPD) of private hospitals, while in 477,612 non-cancer-specific CM visits, 62.0% was for private clinics. The proportion of expenses for diagnostic fees for CM user in CM visits was much less than that for WM visits and CM non-users (US$4.6 vs. 29.3 vs. 33.5). The average cost for CM user in CM was less than that for WM visits and CM non-users (US$6.3 vs. 25.9 vs. 30.3). Female patients, younger age, and patients not living in the northern region, with higher EC or more comorbidities were more likely to receive CM treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence and costs of insurance-covered CM among CRC patients were low. Further longer longitudinal study is needed to follow up this trend.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shiang-Jiun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ying-Xu
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Moon-Sing
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Yen
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hon-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Feng-Chun
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Chieh
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ta-Wen
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Kai
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chinese Medicine; Digestive System Neoplasms; Health Insurance