Abstract
BackgroundTraditional medicine is broadly used across Asian societies for various medical conditions and health concerns. However, there remains a wide disparity between users and non-use, which makes it imperative to understand the factors affecting the lay perception and utilization of traditional medicine. This study systematically examined the demographic, medical, and socioeconomic factors affecting belief in and use of traditional medicine among older adults of Shanghai, China.MethodsWe used the data from Survey of Life and Opinion on Shanghai Older Adults in 2013 with a sample of 3418 older adults aged 50 years or older. The multilevel logistic models were applied to examine the associations between faith and utilization of traditional medicine and a set of factors of the respondents, including demographics (gender, age, rural/urban residence), socioeconomic status (educational attainment, income, primary occupation), social support (marital status, social network), and disease/conditions. The associations between individual use of traditional medicine and the profile of socioeconomic development and the medical services conditions of local communities were also modelled.ResultsWe found that cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, cancer, prostatitis, arthritis, and nervous system diseases were positive correlates for using traditional medicine. Older adults who had a cancer, a prostatitis, or a fracture had more faith in traditional treatment. Rural living, higher educational attainment, and white-collar occupation promoted the use of traditional medicine. A higher number of strong social ties and a tie connected with medical staff were positive factors of use as well.ConclusionThe belief in and use of traditional medicine were prevalent among older adults in Shanghai, China. Though not conclusive, our study suggested that traditional medicine in China appears to serve two distinct functions, namely complementary medicine for those socioeconomically advantaged whereas alternative medicine for those socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Highlights
Traditional medicine is broadly used across Asian societies for various medical conditions and health concerns
This paper aims to contribute to the field by systematically examining factors affecting the belief in and use of traditional Chinese medicine among older adults of Shanghai, China
In regards to social networks, we examined respondents on “How many confidents do you have in daily life?”, which indicates the extent of strong ties of the older adults; we asked if respondents personally knew of any medical staff such as nurses, pharmacists, doctors in their daily life, in order to capture the influence from the general social contacts regarding the traditional medicine
Summary
Traditional medicine is broadly used across Asian societies for various medical conditions and health concerns. This study systematically examined the demographic, medical, and socioeconomic factors affecting belief in and use of traditional medicine among older adults of Shanghai, China. Traditional medicine is broadly used across Asian societies [1,2,3,4,5], applied for daily health maintenance, and used in alternative treatments for cancers, strokes, and many other medical conditions. In some Asian societies such as China, Japan, and Korea, traditional medicine has been institutionalized to nearly or equivalent the degree as conventional medicine [6, 7]. There continues to be considerable heterogeneity in perception and use of traditional medicine across and within Asian societies. A study from Hong Kong [11] classified the attitude towards the use of traditional medicine into three types: holding belief in conventional medicine (63%), being sceptical on conventional medicine (24%), and holding faith on both traditional medicine and conventional medicine (14%)
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