title: The Effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Patients with Leukemia.
abstract: Leukemia is the most common malignancy among all childhood cancers and is associated with a low survival rate in adult patients. Since 1995, the National Health Insurance (NHI) program in Taiwan has been offering insurance coverage for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), along with conventional Western medicine (WM). This study analyzes the status of TCM utilization in Taiwan, in both pediatric and adult patients with leukemia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using population-based National Health Insurance Research Database of Registry of Catastrophic Illness, involving patient data from 2001 to 2010 and follow-up data through 2011. The effectiveness of TCM use was evaluated. Relevant sociodemographic data showed that both pediatric and adult patients who were TCM users one year prior to leukemia diagnosis were more likely to utilize TCM services for cancer therapy. A greater part of medical expenditure of TCM users was lower than that of TCM nonusers, except little discrepancy in drug fee of adult patients. The survival rate is also higher in TCM users. Altogether, these data show that TCM has the potential to serve as an adjuvant therapy when combined with conventional WM in the treatment of patients with leukemia.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Chinese Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsuan-Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Liang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8187-4716
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Healthcare Administration, College of Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tsai-Chung
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3346-7462
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Li