Feasibility of Pharmacoeconomic Evaluations of Traditional Chinese Medicine from the Perspectives of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service in South Korea

Leukemia is the most common malignancy among all childhood cancers and is associated with a low survival rate in adult patients. Since 1995, the National Health Insurance (NHI) program in Taiwan has been offering insurance coverage for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), along with conventional Western medicine (WM). This study analyzes the status of TCM utilization in Taiwan, in both pediatric and adult patients with leukemia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using population-based National Health Insurance Research Database of Registry of Catastrophic Illness, involving patient data from 2001 to 2010 and follow-up data through 2011. The effectiveness of TCM use was evaluated. Relevant sociodemographic data showed that both pediatric and adult patients who were TCM users one year prior to leukemia diagnosis were more likely to utilize TCM services for cancer therapy. A greater part of medical expenditure of TCM users was lower than that of TCM nonusers, except little discrepancy in drug fee of adult patients. The survival rate is also higher in TCM users. Altogether, these data show that TCM has the potential to serve as an adjuvant therapy when combined with conventional WM in the treatment of patients with leukemia.

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Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment Associated with Female Infertility in Taiwan: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2020/3951741 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Yueh-Hsiang Liao ◽

Jaung-Geng Lin ◽

Cheng-Chieh Lin ◽

Chin-Chuan Tsai ◽

Hui-Lien Lai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Insurance ◽

Chinese Medicine ◽

Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Population Based ◽

Case Control ◽

Female Infertility ◽

Successful Pregnancy ◽

Infertile Women ◽

Control Study

Background. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of female infertility remains ambiguous. The aim of the present case-control study was to examine the association between TCM treatment and successful pregnancy among infertile women. Methods. This population-based case-control study included the data from 2,627 infertile women with successful pregnancy and 2,627 infertile women without successful pregnancy using datasets from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 of the National Health Insurance Research Database during 2000–2010. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the relationship between TCM use and successful pregnancy in infertility women were estimated using logistic regression. Results. Patients who received TCM treatment significantly increased in successful pregnancy (OR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.31–1.66), compared with patients without TCM. Si-Wu-Tang (OR = 4.25; 95% CI = 2.18, 8.30), Gui-Zhi-Fu-Ling-Wan (OR = 3.27; 95% CI = 2.13, 5.02), and Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San (OR = 3.17; 95% CI = 2.35, 4.28) were the TCM agents that were most strongly associated with successful pregnancy among infertile women. Conclusions. Our study findings indicate that TCM is associated with higher likelihood of successful pregnancy in infertile women, which is worthy of further investigation by randomized control trial.

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Traditional Chinese Medicine Might Reduce Risk of Dementia in Patients with Parkinson’s disease: A Population-based Nested Case-control Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-29048/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yun-Tzu Liang ◽

Chia-Yang Lin ◽

Yu-Hsun Wang ◽

Hsi-Hsien Chou ◽

James Cheng-Chung Wei

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Chinese Medicine ◽

Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽

National Health Insurance ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Population Based ◽

Case Control ◽

Control Study

Abstract Background Patients who have Parkinson’s disease (PD) comorbid with dementia is common. With the prolonged life expectancy, dementia is gradually becoming prevalent and affects most patients’ life qualities. However, the efficacy of current treatments in dementia of Parkinson’s disease is limited. Previous studies indicated the potential roles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating dementia, yet its effects in preventing dementia from Parkinson’s patients are unknown.Methods This case–control study was nested within a national health insurance database of patients over 50 years old with newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease from year 2000 to 2010. Among these PD patients, dementia and non-dementia groups were discussed respectively in terms of the duration of taking TCM (≥ 90 days versus < 90 days), age (50–64 versus ≥ 65) and gender.Results The risk of dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease is decreased by using TCM for < 90 days and ≥ 90 days, especially in the group who took TCM for more than 90 days. The use of TCM significantly reduces the risk of dementia in the subgroups of age ≥ 65 years, female patients using TCM for both < 90 days and ≥ 90 days, and male patients using TCM for < 90 days. Overall, we can see the protection tendency among all of the target population under TCM use.Conclusions The results showed that there is a significant reduction of nearly 38% in the risk of dementia for patients with Parkinson’s disease after the usage of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The beneficial effects for using TCM ≥ 90 days in women age ≥ 65 years are most prominent.Trial registration The study data were acquired from the Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) Research Database. The NHI-claimed data provide clinical information for population-based epidemiologic research. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Chung Shan Medical University Hospital.

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