Chinese Herbal Medicine as an Adjunctive Therapy Improves the Survival Rate of Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Table 1

Characteristics of ischemic heart disease patients according to use or nonuse of Chinese herbal medicine.

Variable	Ischemic heart disease patients				value
	CHM users
	No (n = 20192, 50%)		Yes (n = 20192, 50%)
	n	%	n	%
CHM for IHD	—		376
Sex					0.99
Female	8024	39.7	8024	39.7
Male	12168	60.3	12168	60.3
Age group					0.99
20–39	878	4.35	878	4.35
40–64	9287	46.0	9287	46.0
More than 65	10027	49.7	10027	49.7
Mean ± SD (years)	63.5 (13.2)		63.4 (13.1)	0.49a
Baseline comorbidity
Hyperlipidemia	6275	31.1	6912	34.2	<0.001
Hypertension	12424	61.53	10496	51.98	<0.001
DM	4217	20.9	2934	14.5	<0.001
Stroke	2370	11.7	1181	5.85	<0.001
Charlson comorbidity index					<0.001
0	12921	64.0	15311	75.8
1	3561	17.6	3238	16.0
2	1580	7.82	881	4.36
3+	2130	10.6	762	3.77
Mortality	2745	13.6	1494	7.40	<0.001
Follow-up time median (IQR), years	6.00	(1.25, 6.00)	8.12	(2.77, 8.21)	<0.001^§

IHD: ischemic heart disease; CHM: Chinese herbal medicine; DM: diabetes mellitus; SD: standard deviation. Chi-square test; ^at-test. IQR: interquartile range. ^§Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test.