Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Patients Diagnosed with Postpartum Depression: A Nationwide Population-Based Study
Table 1
Characteristics of patients with postpartum depression according to use of traditional Chinese medicine.
TCM used
value
Adjusted OR (95% CI)‡
Total (N = 653)
No (N = 309)
Yes (N = 344)
n
%
n
%
n
%
Age mean ± SD (years)&
31.2 ± 8.48
31.7 ± 8.91
30.8 ± 8.06
0.22
Age group
0.10
20–25
123
18.8
53
17.2
70
20.4
3.98 (1.43, 11.1)
26–30
211
32.3
102
33.0
109
31.7
3.05 (1.13, 8.21)
31–35
186
28.5
82
26.5
104
30.2
3.28 (1.26, 8.57)
36–40
80
12.3
41
13.3
39
11.3
2.30 (0.84, 6.30)
40–45
26
3.98
19
6.15
7
2.03
1.00 (0.32, 3.08)
>45
27
4.13
12
3.88
15
4.36
1.00
Insured amount (NT$/month)
0.49
<20,000
581
89.0
275
89.0
306
89.0
1.00
20,000–39,999
51
7.81
27
8.74
24
6.98
1.14 (0.60, 2.18)
40,000–59,999
17
2.60
6
1.94
11
3.20
1.83 (0.59, 5.64)
≥60,000
4
0.61
1
0.32
3
0.87
1.40 (0.20, 9.89)
Urbanization†
0.45
Level 1 (highest)
203
31.1
92
29.8
111
32.3
1.00
Level 2
214
32.8
111
35.9
103
29.9
0.81 (0.51, 1.29)
Level 3
101
15.5
47
15.2
54
15.7
0.98 (0.54, 1.78)
Level 4
88
13.5
41
13.3
47
13.7
1.03 (0.53, 1.99)
Level 5 (lowest)
47
7.20
18
5.83
29
8.43
1.86 (0.79, 4.38)
Residential area
0.002
Northern
85
13.0
54
17.5
31
9.01
1.00
Taipei
256
39.2
126
40.8
130
37.8
1.68 (0.92, 3.07)
Central
113
17.3
46
14.9
67
19.5
2.05 (1.09, 3.86)
Southern
84
12.9
27
8.74
57
16.6
3.17 (1.58, 6.33)
Eastern
20
3.06
9
2.91
11
3.20
1.91 (0.61, 5.95)
Kao-Ping
95
14.6
47
15.2
48
14.0
1.71 (0.88, 3.32)
Insured unit
0.21
Government, school employees
75
11.5
28
9.06
47
13.7
3.07 (1.34, 7.05)
Private enterprise employees
279
42.8
131
42.4
148
43.2
2.98 (1.46, 6.10)
Occupational member
159
24.4
75
24.3
84
24.5
3.36 (1.58, 7.14)
Farmers, fishermen
58
8.90
33
10.7
25
7.29
1.00
Low-income households and veterans, other regional populations
81
12.4
42
13.6
39
11.4
2.26 (1.03, 4.95)∗∗
Season of delivery
0.51
Spring (March–May)
168
25.7
83
26.9
85
24.7
1.00
Summer (June–August)
180
27.6
87
28.2
93
27.0
1.09 (0.69, 1.74)
Autumn (September–November)
170
26.0
72
23.3
98
28.5
1.47 (0.92, 2.36)
Winter (December–February)
135
20.7
67
21.7
68
19.8
1.03 (0.63, 1.69)
TCM use one year prior to PPD diagnosis
<0.001
Non-TCM users
369
56.5
230
74.4
139
40.4
1.00
TCM users
284
43.5
79
25.6
205
59.6
4.36 (3.08, 6.19)
Baseline comorbidity
Diabetes mellitus#
9
1.38
3
0.97
6
1.74
0.51
0.62 (0.18, 2.09)
Hypertension
49
7.50
21
6.80
28
8.14
0.52
0.99 (0.45, 2.18)
Hyperlipidaemia
41
6.28
18
5.83
23
6.69
0.65
1.45 (0.66, 3.21)
Stroke#
6
0.92
4
1.29
2
0.58
0.43
0.77 (0.15, 4.13)
Coronary artery disease
48
7.35
23
7.44
25
7.27
0.93
1.23 (0.61, 2.47)
Cirrhosis
107
16.4
47
15.2
60
17.4
0.44
1.10 (0.68, 1.76)
Renal disease#
10
1.53
4
1.29
6
1.74
0.76
0.81 (0.24, 2.73)
TCM visits, (mean, SD)
5.58
6.73
Total medical expenditures (NT$) (mean, SD)
45118
164779
47395
217714
43071
95086
0.74
Duration between delivery date and diagnosis date, years (mean, SD)
0.44 ± 0.30
0.45 ± 0.30
0.43 ± 0.30
0.71
Duration between diagnosis date and index date, years (mean, SD)
0.31 ± 0.29
TCM, traditional Chinese medicine; OR, odds ratio; SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval. &t test; #Fisher’s exact test; ,,.†The urbanization level was categorized by the population density of the residential area into 5 levels, with level 1 as the most urbanized and level 5 as the least urbanized. ‡Adjusted ORs were from the model considering age, urbanization, TCM visit one year ago, insured amount, residential area, insured unit, season, and baseline comorbidity.
