Use of Folk Therapy in Taiwan: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey of Prevalence and Associated Factors
Table 2
Use of Western medicine within previous year in association with use of folk therapy in most recent month.
Use of folk therapy
Medical utilization within previous year
No ()
Yes ()
OR
(95% CI)
(%)
(%)
Emergency care (Model 1)
No
13519
(93.6)
920
(6.4)
1.00
(Reference)
Yes
2096
(90.7)
215
(9.3)
1.46
(1.24–1.71)
Hospitalized care (Model 2)
No
14383
(93.4)
1023
(6.6)
1.00
(Reference)
Yes
1232
(91.7)
112
(8.3)
1.28
(1.04–1.57)
WM outpatient care (Model 3)
No
4833
(93.9)
313
(6.1)
1.00
(Reference)
Yes
10782
(92.9)
822
(7.1)
1.22
(1.01–1.49)
Frequency of WM outpatient care (Model 4)
None
4839
(93.9)
313
(6.1)
1.00
(Reference)
Low
3650
(94.0)
235
(6.0)
0.93
(0.78–1.12)
Moderate
3570
(92.8)
278
(7.2)
1.05
(0.89–1.25)
High
3556
(92.0)
309
(8.0)
1.34
(1.13–1.58)
Medical expenditure for WM (Model 5)
None
4839
(93.9)
313
(6.1)
1.00
(Reference)
Low
3601
(94.1)
226
(5.9)
0.89
(0.74–1.07)
Moderate
3556
(92.9)
271
(7.1)
1.02
(0.86–1.21)
High
3619
(91.8)
325
(8.2)
1.42
(1.20–1.67)
WM: Western medicine. There were 5 multivariate logistic regression models performed to investigate the impacts of five major factors (emergency care, hospitalized care, WM outpatient care, frequency of WM outpatient care, and medical expenditure for WM) on the use of folk therapy. Each model adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, density of TCM physicians, unhealthy lifestyle factors, and medical care in past 6 months in multiple logistic regressions.
