The Core Pattern Analysis on Chinese Herbal Medicine for Sjögren's syndrome: A Nationwide Population-Based Study.
This large-scale survey aimed to evaluate frequencies and patterns of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) used for Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in Taiwan by analyzing the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) for cases in which CHM was used as an alternative therapy to Western medicine for improving patients' discomforts. We analyzed cases of SS principal diagnosis (ICD-9:710.2) with a catastrophic illness certificate (CIC) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) outpatient clinics from three cohorts of the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) in the NHIRD between 2002 and 2011. CHM prescription patterns for SS were evaluated from claimed visitation files and corresponding prescription files. There were 15,914 SS patients with CIC (SS/CIC), and we found only 130 SS/CIC cases visiting TCM clinics in LHID2000, 133 in LHID2005, and 126 in LHID2010. After removing duplicate data, 366 SS/CIC and 4,867 visits were analyzed. The 50-59 year age group showed the highest ratio (29.51%) in both women and men. "Qi-Ju-Di-Huang-Wan" and "Xuan-Shen" (Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl.) was the most commonly used formula and single herb, respectively. "Qi-Ju-Di-Huang-Wan, Gan-Lu-Yin, Xuan-Shen, Mai-Men-Dong (Ophiopogon japonicus (L. f.) Ker-Gawl.), and Sheng-Di-Huang (raw Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch)" were the core pattern prescriptions in treating SS/CIC.
1] Center for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan [2] Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, and Graduate Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Ching-Mao
CM
Chang
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Hsueh-Ting
HT
Chu
1] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan [2] Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
Yau-Huei
YH
Wei
Center for Traditional Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Fang-Pey
FP
Chen
Cloud Computing and System Integration Division, National Center for High-Performance Computing, Taichung, Taiwan.
Shengwen
S
Wang
Division of Rheumatology and Immunology and Department of Education, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Po-Chang
PC
Wu
Research Center for Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, and School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Hung-Rong
HR
Yen
1] Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan [2] Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tzeng-Ji
TJ
Chen
Research Center for Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, and School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Hen-Hong
HH
Chang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000032:analysis* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal