Medical School, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland.
Singapore Med J. 2009 Dec;50(12):1162-8.
In a country dominated by western healthcare, interest in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is growing. The increasing popularity of TCM, occasionally used with conventional medicine, needs to be assessed, especially in a vulnerable paediatric population. This paper sought to evaluate the use of TCM in children, mainly to determine the common conditions they seek TCM, the pattern of acupuncture or herbal usage for various age groups, the extent of concurrent usage of TCM and conventional medicine, and the reasons for TCM use. Paediatricians' perceptions of TCM will allow us to gauge the acceptability of TCM by those who practise conventional medicine. These are assessed in another arm of this study, with a set of predictive characteristics for their personal TCM use, their perceptions of herb/acupuncture safety, and their own referral to TCM eventually determined.
An anonymous questionnaire was administered on 300 parents awaiting consultation at a large TCM clinic. Next, a separate qualitative questionnaire survey form was posted to 100 paediatricians.
Herb usage in children is very common (84.3 percent) and 80 percent of parents admitted concurrent usage of TCM and conventional medicine for their children. Drug-herb interactions was an issue of concern for paediatricians. Paediatricians with a higher level of self-reported TCM knowledge were more likely to refer for a cure.
This was the first study to determine the characteristics of children attending a large TCM clinic in a country which is dominated by western healthcare. It also provided insight into the perceptions of TCM among paediatricians in Singapore. Specifically, it gave us an idea of the predictor traits that determine their referral patterns to TCM and their perceptions of herb and acupuncture safety.
在一个以西方医疗为主导的国家，对传统中医（TCM）的兴趣日益浓厚。TCM 的日益普及，偶尔与传统医学一起使用，需要进行评估，尤其是在脆弱的儿科人群中。本文旨在评估儿童 TCM 的使用情况，主要是确定他们寻求 TCM 的常见病症、不同年龄段使用针灸或草药的模式、TCM 与传统医学的同时使用程度，以及 TCM 使用的原因。儿科医生对 TCM 的看法将使我们能够衡量接受传统医学的医生对 TCM 的接受程度。这在本研究的另一部分进行了评估，确定了他们个人使用 TCM 的预测特征、对草药/针灸安全性的看法，以及最终决定向 TCM 转介的情况。
对在一家大型 TCM 诊所等候就诊的 300 名家长进行了匿名问卷调查。其次，向 100 名儿科医生邮寄了一份单独的定性问卷调查报告表。
儿童草药使用非常普遍（84.3%），80%的家长承认他们的孩子同时使用 TCM 和传统医学。药物-草药相互作用是儿科医生关注的问题。自我报告 TCM 知识水平较高的儿科医生更有可能推荐进行治疗。
这是第一项在以西方医疗为主导的国家中确定在大型 TCM 诊所就诊的儿童特征的研究。它还深入了解了新加坡儿科医生对 TCM 的看法。具体而言，它让我们了解了决定他们向 TCM 转介模式和对草药和针灸安全性看法的预测特征。
