Concurrent Use in Taiwan of Chinese Herbal Medicine Therapies among Hormone Users Aged 55 Years to 79 Years and Its Association with Breast Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Study
Table 1
Demographic characteristics and results of multiple logistic regression showing the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% CI (confidence interval) of users from the 1 million random sample of the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 1997 to 2008 in Taiwan.
Characteristics
HT users who did not use Chinese medicine, number
HT users coprescribed a Chinese medicine, number
HT users coprescribed a Chinese medicine/HT users who did not use a Chinese medicine aOR (95% CI)
Numbers of HT users (breast cancer patients)
2,411 (31)
3,053 (33)
Incidence of breast cancer1
1.6
1.1
Mean (SD) duration of follow-up, person-years
8.2 (2.7)
9.4 (2.0)
Mean (SD) age at inclusion, years
63.4 (6.5)
61.0 (5.2)
Age groups at inclusion, years number (%)
55~59
865 (35.9)
1,474 (48.3)
1.00
60~64
607 (25.2)
886 (29.0)
0.83 (0.72–0.96)
65~69
438 (18.2)
446 (14.6)
0.57 (0.48–0.67)
70~74
331 (13.7)
193 (6.3)
0.34 (0.27–0.42)
75~79
170 (7.0)
54 (1.8)
0.21 (0.15–0.29)
$NTe/month (Premiums) (%)
0
768 (31.9)
878 (28.8)
1.00
1–19,999
1,357 (56.3)
1,693 (55.4)
0.95 (0.83–1.09)
20,000–39,999
207 (8.6)
363 (11.9)
1.12 (0.90–1.39)
>=40000
79 (3.3)
119 (3.9)
0.93 (0.67–1.28)
Insured area (%)
Taipei City
533 (22.1)
562 (18.4)
1.00
Kaohsiung City
162 (6.7)
204 (6.7)
1.16 (0.90–1.49)
Northern Taiwan
647 (26.9)
725 (23.8)
1.06 (0.90–1.26)
Central Taiwan
258 (10.7)
722 (23.6)
2.83 (2.32–3.45)
Southern Taiwan
701 (29.1)
718 (23.5)
1.04 (0.88–1.24)
Eastern Taiwan
95 (3.9)
103 (3.4)
1.04 (0.75–1.44)
Outlying islands
15 (0.6)
19 (0.6)
1.75 (0.80–3.82)
Number of chronic diseases (%)
0
172 (7.1)
103 (3.4)
1.00
1
360 (14.9)
344 (11.3)
1.58 (1.17–2.14)
Cardiovascular disease
46 (1.9)
38 (1.2)
Hypertension
89 (3.7)
47 (1.5)
Hypercholesterolemia
21 (0.9)
20 (0.7)
Diabetes mellitus
33 (1.4)
24 (0.8)
Stroke
10 (0.4)
6 (0.2)
Osteoporosis
161 (6.7)
209 (6.9)
2
458 (19.0)
528 (17.3)
2.04 (1.53–2.74)
3 or more
1,421 (58.9)
2,078 (68.1)
2.63 (2.01–3.45)
Types and prescription patterns of HT (%)
Estrogen-alone
1,179 (48.9)
925 (30.3)
1.00
Progesterone-alone
83 (3.4)
0 (0.0)
—
Estrogen and progesterone combination
34 (1.4)
33 (1.1)
1.17 (0.71–1.95)
Mixed type†
1,115 (46.3)
2,095 (68.6)
2.17 (1.93–2.44)
HT refers to hormonal therapy. †Mixed type refers to the estrogen-alone (E-alone); estrogen together with progesterone (E + P); other preparations, which included progesterone only and vaginal and other local treatments and combinations of the above preparation types.
eNT$ refers to new Taiwan dollars, of which 1 US $ = 30 NT$.
1Incidence rate: number of breast cancer/1,000 person-year.
