Concurrent use of prescription drugs and herbal medicinal products in patients with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue

Abstract

Objective The concurrent use of prescription drugs and herbal medicinal products (HMPs) for the management of various disease are increasing. Many HMPs have been used to treat the common health complaints involved the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. Therefore, we analyzed the extent of concurrent use of prescription drugs and HMPs in patients with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. Methods This study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC), which consists of representative anonymized data extracted from national health insurance records pertaining to about 1,000,000 subjects from 2002 to 2013. The insured HMPs were 56 kinds of single herbal extracts and 67 kinds of mixed herbal extracts in Republic of Korea. Continuous variables were summarised by the means (and SDs) and categorical variables were summarised by proportions (%). Univariate and multivariable Statistical significance was defined as P Results The diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue accounted for the top 10 ranking concurrent use of prescription drugs and HMPs. The most frequently co-prescribed drugs were Antipyretics (or Analgesics, or Anti-inflammatory) and Ojeok-san (Wuji-san in China, Goshaku-san in Japan). The concurrent use rate in the elderly over the age of 65 is higher than the sum of all under 64-years-old. Conclusions The concurrent use rate in diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue was high. Potential herb-drug interaction is a clinical concern, with older people at greater risk. Further studies on the benefit and risk of concurrent use are needed.