Characteristics of pediatric traditional Chinese medicine users in Taiwan: a nationwide cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Traditional chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicines. However, there is a paucity of epidemiologic reports on features of pediatric TCM users. As TCM services are fully reimbursed by National Health Insurance in Taiwan, this study used a nationwide cohort database to investigate demographics, diseases patterns, and parents' characteristics of pediatric TCM users. METHODS Children aged <12 years were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database for analysis. These pediatric TCM users' demographics, medical conditions, and reasons for medical services were compared with users of Western medicine by Poisson regression. Children who did not use any medical services were excluded. RESULTS Of 107,337 children who were enrolled and followed up in 2005, 19,669 children (18.3%) used TCM. Compared with Western medicine-only users, school-age children (aged 6-12 years), preschool age children (3-5 years), and toddlers (1-2 years) were more likely to use TCM than infants (<1 year; rate ratio = 4.47, 3.66 and 2.59, respectively; P < .001 for all). Parental factors were associated with more TCM use, including female gender, age >35 years, past experience with TCM, and higher income levels. Allergic reactions and respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and musculoskeletal problems were also associated with higher TCM use. CONCLUSIONS The use of TCM was correlated with both patient and parental factors, among which children's age and parental TCM use were the most prominent. Additional studies on the efficacy of TCM are warranted.