Abstract
BackgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used by Chinese patients and in many other countries worldwide. However, epidemiological reports and prescription patterns on children are few.MethodsA cohort of 178,617 children aged 18 and under from one million randomly sampled cases of the National Health Insurance Research Database was analyzed for TCM prescription patterns. SAS 9.1 was applied and descriptive medicine utilization patterns were presented.ResultsThe cohort included 112,889 children treated by TCM, with adolescents (12- to 18-year-olds) as the largest group. In the children’s TCM outpatient visits, Chinese herbal remedies were the main treatment. The top three categories of diseases treated with Chinese herbal remedies were respiratory system; symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions; and digestive system. The top three categories using acupuncture were: injury and poisoning, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, and diseases of the respiratory system. Of the top ten herbal medicines prescribed by TCM physicians, the top nine herbal formulae and the top ten single herbs were associated with diseases of the respiratory system.ConclusionThis study identified patterns of TCM prescriptions for children and common disease categories treated with TCM. The results provide a useful reference for health policy makers and for those who consider the usage of TCM for children.
Highlights
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used by Chinese patients and in many other countries worldwide
The top five categories of disease treated with TCM were: diseases of the respiratory system (42.9%); symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions (19.0%); diseases of the digestive system (10.6%); injury and poisoning (9.2%); and diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (6.7%)
We found that most top ten herbal medicines including herbal formula (HF) and single herbs (SH) prescribed by physicians (Table 3) were associated with treating respiratory disease
Summary
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used by Chinese patients and in many other countries worldwide. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has generally been used in adults and in pediatric patients by the Chinese population, as well as in Asia and many other countries around the world [1,2,3,4]. TCM may include acupuncture, traumatology, manipulative therapies, and moxibustion. In Singapore, herbal medicine was the most commonly used form of TCM, at 84.3% [8]. According to previous studies of two randomly sampled cohorts from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan, 22 and 22.5% of children used TCM in 2005 and 2010 respectively. Herbal remedies were the most commonly used therapeutic approach, followed by manipulative therapy and acupuncture.
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