Gu Ye, Lai Yu-Tung, Chang Fang-Rong, Chen Chung-Yu
Graduate Institute of Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Master Program in Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Front Pharmacol. 2023 Jun 16;14:1201240. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1201240. eCollection 2023.
Few studies have investigated traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) utilization patterns for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), despite the potential benefits of exploring TCM utilization patterns in optimizing TCM management. This study aimed to evaluate TCM utilization patterns and clinical features for IBS patterns in Taiwan. This was a population-based cross-sectional study using claim data from the National Health Insurance Research Database between 2012 and 2018. Patients newly diagnosed with IBS and aged over 20 years were included. The TCM utilization patterns and characteristics, including Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) treatment types and prescription patterns, were evaluated. A total of 73,306 patients newly diagnosed with IBS used TCM for IBS at least once. Females used TCM for IBS more than males (female-to-male ratio = 1.89: 1). The age distribution showed a peak at 30-39 years (27.29%), followed by 40-49 years (20.74%) and 20-29 years (20.71%). Patients who received Western medications for IBS had a lower tendency to seek TCM. CHM was the most commonly used TCM modality (98.22%), with Jia-wei-xiao-yao-san being the most commonly prescribed Chinese herbal formula and Bai-zhu being the most frequently prescribed single Chinese herb. This study enhances our understanding of TCM usage patterns for IBS, particularly CHM prescriptions. Further research is needed to investigate commonly used TCM formulas and individual herbs.
尽管探索中医使用模式对优化中医管理有潜在益处，但很少有研究调查肠易激综合征（IBS）的中医使用模式。本研究旨在评估台湾地区IBS的中医使用模式和临床特征。这是一项基于人群的横断面研究，使用了2012年至2018年国家健康保险研究数据库中的理赔数据。纳入了新诊断为IBS且年龄超过20岁的患者。评估了中医使用模式和特征，包括中药（CHM）治疗类型和处方模式。共有73306名新诊断为IBS的患者至少使用过一次中医治疗IBS。女性使用中医治疗IBS的人数多于男性（女性与男性比例=1.89:1）。年龄分布在30-39岁达到峰值（27.29%），其次是40-49岁（20.74%）和20-29岁（20.71%）。接受IBS西医治疗的患者寻求中医治疗的倾向较低。中药是最常用的中医治疗方式（98.22%），加味逍遥散是最常用的中药方剂，白术是最常用的单味中药。本研究增进了我们对IBS中医使用模式的理解，尤其是中药处方。需要进一步研究来调查常用的中药方剂和单味草药。
