Table 1 The top five most commonly used herbal formulas for premenstrual syndrome (N = 13,820)

Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San (JWXYS)

Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Bupleurum chinense DC. DC., Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz., Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels., Mentha haplocalyx Briq., Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., Zingiber officinale Rosc., Paeonia suffruticosa Andr., and Gardenia jasminoides Ellis.

Liver and spleen blood deficiency with heat transforming, liver qi stagnation

5,185

4.87

6.4

37.5

Dang-Gui-Shao-Yao-San

Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels., Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz., Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, and Alisma plantago-aquatica L. var. Alisma orientale Samuels

Liver blood deficiency and disharmony of Liver and Spleen

2,064

4.34

6.4

14.9

Gui-Zhi-Fu-Ling-Wan

Cinnamomum cassia Blume, Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Paeonia suffruticosa Andr., and Prunus persica (L.) Batsch (or Prunus davidiana (Carr.) Franch.)

Blood stasis

1,245

3.87

6.3

9.0

Wen-Jing-Tang

Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth., (or Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. var. officinalis (Dode) Huang, Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. var. bodinieri (Dode) Huang), Cinnamomum cassia Blume, Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels., Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., Equus asinus L., Ophiopogon japonicus Ker-Gawl., Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit, and Zingiber officinale Rosc.

Blood stasis and deficient cold

1,120

4.25

6.3

8.1

Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang

Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Zingiber officinale Rosc., Cinnamomum cassia Blume, Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels., Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., Paeonia lactiflora Pall. or Peaonia veitchii Lynch, Trogopterus xanthipes Milne-Edwards or Pteromys volans L.

Qi stagnation and blood stasis

994

3.97

6.2

7.2