title: Utilization and prescription patterns of traditional Chinese medicine for patients with hepatitis C in Taiwan: a population-based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To characterize the utilization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) among patients with hepatitis C (HC).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study examined datasets from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. One cohort, including one million patients randomly sampled from the beneficiaries of the National Health Insurance Programme from January 1 to December 31 in 2010, was chosen for this analysis. People who had at least three outpatient or inpatient records and had been diagnosed with hepatitis C virus infection from 2000 to 2010 were defined as patients with HC. Patients with HC who had at least one TCM outpatient clinical record from 2000 to 2010 were defined as TCM users (N = 5,691), whereas patients with no TCM outpatient records were defined as non-TCM users (N = 2,876). The demographic data, treatment modalities and disease distributions of TCM users were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 66.4 % of the patients with HC had used TCM from 2000 to 2010. Of the TCM users, 54.1 % were female. The utilization rate of TCM increased with age and peaked in the age group of those 40 - 64 years old. Herbal remedies (52.4 %) were the most commonly used agents, followed by combination therapy (46.4 %) and acupuncture alone (1.2 %). Patients who had more extrahepatic diseases and were taking more antiviral agents tended to visit TCM clinics. Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San and Dan-Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) were the most commonly used formula and single herb, with 88,124 person-days and 59,252 person-days, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our nationwide population-based study revealed a high prevalence and specific usage patterns of TCM in patients with HC in Taiwan.
authors: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Chinese Medicine, Branch of Linsen and Chinese Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.|School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors: Chia-Yu
authors: CY
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Chinese Medicine, Branch of Linsen and Chinese Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Jui-Ying
authors: JY
authors: Chu
authors: Research Centre for Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.|Health Data Management Office, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors: Jen-Huai
authors: JH
authors: Chiang
authors: Research Centre for Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. hungrongyen@gmail.com.|Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, 2 Yude Rd, North District, Taichung, 404, Taiwan. hungrongyen@gmail.com.|School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. hungrongyen@gmail.com.
authors: Hung-Rong
authors: HR
authors: Yen
authors: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. owlherbs@yahoo.com.tw.|Department of Chinese Medicine, Branch of Linsen and Chinese Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. owlherbs@yahoo.com.tw.|School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. owlherbs@yahoo.com.tw.
authors: Chung-Hua
authors: CH
authors: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Complementary and alternative medicine; Hepatitis C; National Health Insurance Research Database; Traditional Chinese medicine