Table 3 CAM use information and comparisons between CM and WM hospitals
Characteristics | N | CM hospital | WM hospital | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patients analyzed | 546 | 282 | 264 | |
CAM users (%) | 377 (69.0) | 257 (91.1) | 120 (45.5) | <0.01 |
Frequency | ||||
Continuous / intermittent or once | 132 / 245 | 113 / 144 | 19 / 101 | <0.01 (OR = 4.17, 95% CI = 2.41 - 7.22) |
Patterns (%) | ||||
Chinese patent prescription | 342 (90.7) | 237 (69.3) | 105 (30.7) | 0.14 |
Nutrient supplements | 204 (54.1) | 136 (66.7) | 68(33.3) | 0.50 |
Exercise | 129 (34.2) | 81 (62.8) | 48 (37.2) | 0.11 |
Herbal decoction | 280 (74.3) | 224 (80.0) | 56 (20.0) | <0.01 |
Acupuncture | 52 (13.8) | 42 (80.8) | 10 (19.2) | 0.04 |
Others | 18 (4.8) | 13 (72.2) | 5 (27.8) | 0.71 |
Perceived effectiveness | ||||
Effective / ineffective | 286 / 91 | 217 / 40 | 69 / 51 | <0.01 (OR = 4.01, 95% CI = 2.45 - 6.58) |
Reasons for CAM use (n = 377) | ||||
Fewer side effects | 187 (49.6) | 135 (72.2) | 52 (27.8) | 0.10 |
Effective and mild action | 155 (41.1) | 132 (85.2) | 23 (14.8) | <0.01 |
Treating root cause | 106 (28.1) | 97 (91.5) | 9 (8.5) | <0.01 |
Economic | 79 (21.0) | 58 (73.4) | 21 (26.6) | 0.26 |
Health preserving effect | 37 (9.8) | 27 (73.0) | 10 (27.0) | 0.51 |
Without invasive examination | 30 (8.0) | 18 (60) | 12 (40) | 0.32 |
Others | 5 (1.3) | 3 (60) | 2 (40) | 0.69 |
Reasons for non-CAM use (n = 169) | ||||
Terrible taste | 59 (34.9) | 12 (20.3) | 47 (79.7) | 0.14 |
Slower effectual procedure | 77 (45.6) | 9 (11.7) | 68 (88.3) | 0.30 |
Afraid of fake CAM products | 29 (17.2) | 4 (13.8) | 25 (86.2) | 0.87 |
Doubt of effect | 104 (61.5) | 2 (1.9) | 102 (98.1) | <0.01 |
Inconvenient | 94 (55.6) | 15 (16.0) | 79 (84.0) | 0.63 |
Afraid of acupuncture | 23 (13.6) | 4 (17.4) | 19 (82.6) | 0.71 |
Others | 7 (4.1) | 2 (28.6) | 5 (71.4) | 0.29 |
CAM preferred for future (n = 169) | ||||
Patent herbal medicine | 137 (81.1) | 23 (16.8) | 114 (83.2) | 0.13 |
Herbal decoction | 54 (32.0) | 12 (22.2) | 42 (77.8) | 0.06 |
Nutrient supplements | 112 (66.3) | 18 (16.1) | 94 (83.9) | 0.51 |
Exercise | 36 (21.3) | 8 (22.2) | 28 (77.8) | 0.15 |
Acupuncture | 40 (23.7) | 9 (22.5) | 31 (77.5) | 0.12 |
Others | 13 (7.7) | 4 (30.8) | 9 (69.2) | 0.09 |