Liao Hui-Ling, Ma Tso-Chiang, Chiu Yen-Lin, Chen Jin-Tang, Chang Yuan-Shiun
Institute of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Jul;14(6):741-8. doi: 10.1089/acm.2007.7111.
To test the factors that influence Chinese medicine outpatients' behavior patterns in purchasing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) under the National Health Insurance (NHI) system in Taiwan.
A structural questionnaire was developed and administered to randomly selected outpatients waiting for Chinese Medicine at pharmacies in two academic hospitals that offered Chinese Medicine services in central Taiwan. A total of 641 effective questionnaires were collected. SPSS 10.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) was used to run descriptive analysis and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). In addition, LISREL 8.30 (Analytical Package, Scientific Software International, Inc., Chicago, IL) was used to modify and analyze the relationship between the variables of the hypothetical pathway model.
Path analysis showed that "behavioral intention" and "suffering from disease" had positive and direct influences on the outpatients' patterns of purchasing TCM. Furthermore, "usable resources" was an important factor with direct influence on behavioral intention. When there were more usable resources, the behavioral intention became stronger and indirectly influenced the purchasing behavior of TCM outpatients. In addition, one-way ANOVA showed that the purchasing behavior was significantly influenced by the number of diseases that an individual suffered. The results of the pathway model showed that "behavioral intention" and "suffering from disease" had positive and direct influence on the TCM purchasing behavior of Chinese Medicine outpatients. However, "usable resources" was an important factor with direct influence on behavioral intention. When there were more usable resources, the behavioral intention became stronger and indirectly had influence on the TCM purchasing behavior. Furthermore, the analysis result of one-way ANOVA showed that the more chronic diseases the surveyed subject suffered, the more significant the influence on purchasing behavior became.
Under the current NHI system, patients with multiple chronic diseases are the major purchasers of TCM products not covered by NHI. Therefore, increasing the usable resources of TCM products for the patients with chronic diseases will help hospitals in developing TCM services under the current NHI system.
检验在台湾全民健康保险（NHI）制度下，影响中医门诊患者购买中药行为模式的因素。
编制一份结构化问卷，并对台湾中部两家提供中医服务的学术医院药房中随机抽取的候诊中医门诊患者进行调查。共收集到641份有效问卷。使用SPSS 10.0（社会科学统计软件包，SPSS公司，伊利诺伊州芝加哥）进行描述性分析和单因素方差分析（ANOVA）。此外，使用LISREL 8.30（分析软件包，科学软件国际公司，伊利诺伊州芝加哥）对假设路径模型的变量之间的关系进行修正和分析。
路径分析表明，“行为意向”和“患病”对门诊患者购买中药的模式具有正向直接影响。此外，“可用资源”是对行为意向有直接影响的重要因素。当有更多可用资源时，行为意向会更强，并间接影响中医门诊患者的购买行为。此外，单因素方差分析表明，购买行为受个体所患疾病数量的显著影响。路径模型结果表明，“行为意向”和“患病”对中医门诊患者的中药购买行为具有正向直接影响。然而，“可用资源”是对行为意向有直接影响的重要因素。当有更多可用资源时，行为意向会更强，并间接影响中药购买行为。此外，单因素方差分析的结果表明，被调查对象患慢性病越多，对购买行为的影响就越显著。
在当前的全民健康保险制度下，患有多种慢性病的患者是未纳入全民健康保险的中药产品的主要购买者。因此，增加慢性病患者的中药产品可用资源将有助于医院在当前全民健康保险制度下发展中医服务。
