Utilization patterns of Traditional Chinese medicine for Diabetes Mellitus in Taiwan in 2002

Background: Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) utilization in patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) by large-scale study is limited, only by a small-scale survey. This study analyzes utilization rate and factors associated with TCM utilization using entire DM population in Taiwan.

Methods: This study used the National Health Insurance (NHI) complete datasets in 2002. The diagonosis of DM was extracted with ICD-9 Code of 250. The logistic regression method was employed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) for yearly utilization of TCM. A significance level of alpha= 0.05 was selected.

Results: The odds of using TCM were higher in males (OR = 1.163; 95% CI: 1.127–1.201) and that of TCM increased with age to a peak in the 50–59-year-group (OR = 1.587; 95% CI: 1.515–1.662). The odds of TCM in the group with a monthly wage NT 38,200-57,800 (OR = 1.111; 95% CI: 1.052–1.174) were higher than those in the low-income group. Patients with DM in Central and Southern areas of Taiwan were more likely to use TCM. The significant co-morbidity diseases that were associated with higher TCM utilization were nephritis, skin abscess, retinal defects and liver disease with ORs of 1.247, 1.373, 1.832, 1.102, respectively. As the degree of urbanization increased, the odds of using TCM increased (OR = 1.386; 95% CI: 1.263–1.521; for level II).

Conclusion: Our results show that Chinese medical services utilization rates varies significantly according to patient characteristics, attributes of diseases, geographical regions and adequacy of Chinese medical resources.