Research Article

Characteristics Associated with Utilization of Asthma-Related Traditional Chinese Medicine Services among Asthma Children in Taiwan: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Table 1

Distribution of TCM users and nonusers in asthmatic children by different characteristics of children, parents, and providers.

Child and parental characteristicsTCM user (%)TCM nonuser (%)Chi-square value

Age
 Infant and toddler286 (11.9)2,114 (88.1)<0.001
 Preschool1,779 (22.2)6,223 (77.8)
 School1,600 (21.5)5,831 (78.5)
 Adolescent369 (16.4) 1,878 (83.6)
Gender
 Girls1,675 (19.3)6,990 (80.7)0.019
 Boys2,359 (20.7)9,056 (79.3)
Previous use of TCM
 Yes1,952 (12.5)13,683 (87.5)<0.001
 No2,082 (46.8)2,363 (53.2)
Previous hospitalization
 Yes3,331 (19.7)13,598 (80.3)0.001
 No703 (22.3)2,448 (77.7)
Controller medication used
 Yes2,662 (21.3)9,836 (78.7)<0.001
 No1,372 (18.1)6,210 (81.9)
Oral/systematic corticosteroid used
 Yes1,851 (20.9)7,000 (79.1)0.010
 No2,183 (19.4)9,046 (80.6)
Number of outpatient visits in one year
 <32,161 (18.6)9,431 (81.4)<0.001
31,873 (22.1)6,615 (77.9)
Density of TCM and WM
 Low TCM and low WM563 (19.6)2,315 (80.4)0.006
 Low TCM and high WM326 (19.0)1,393 (81.0)
 High TCM and low WM857 (18.7)3,717 (81.3)
 High TCM and high WM2,288 (21.0)8,621 (79.0)
Incident year
 2005841 (18.7)3,648 (81.3)<0.001
 2006710 (18.7)3,080 (81.3)
 2007806 (19.8)3,269 (80.2)
 2008677 (21.7)2,438 (78.3)
 2009616 (23.2)2,041 (76.8)
 2010384 (19.7)1,570 (80.4)
Parent’s insurable wage/category
 <20000 NTD1,099 (18.6)4,802 (81.4)0.002
 20000~39999 NTD1,418 (20.5)5,505 (79.5)
 ≥40000 NTD987 (21.6)3,586 (78.4)
 Special group530 (19.8)2,153 (80.3)
Provider characteristics
 Age
  401,772 (19.5)7,336 (80.5)0.108
  41~501,672 (20.7)6,391 (79.3)
  51590 (20.3)2,319 (79.7)
 Sex
  Female691 (21.6)2,515 (78.5)0.024
  Male3,343 (19.8)13,531 (80.2)
 Specialty
  Family medicine271 (16.9)1,329 (83.1)0.008
  Internal medicine 247 (19.8)1,001 (80.2)
  Pediatrics2798 (20.6)10,815 (79.5)
  Other718 (19.8)2,901 (80.2)
 Ownership
  Private3,694 (20.1)14,729 (80.0)0.649
  Public340 (20.5)1,317 (79.5)
 Accreditation level
  Hospital1,921 (20.8)7,301 (79.2)0.016
  Clinic2,113 (19.5)8,745 (80.5)

Statistically significance (-value < 0.05).