Demographics and Patterns of Acupuncture Use in the Chinese Population: The Taiwan Experience

Abstract

Twenty-three percent (23%) of people in Taiwan had used acupuncture during this 7-year period. Musculoskeletoal and neurologic disorders were two major categories commonly treated with acupuncture.

Prescription patterns of Chinese herbal products for menopausal syndrome: Analysis of a nationwide prescription database

“…This publicly available research database provides comprehensive data gathered under unrestricted access and is particularly valid for investigating TCM. A number of TCM studies have been published using this nationwide prescription database Chen et al, 2006Chen et al, , 2008aHsieh et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2009;Jong et al, 2010;Lin et al, 2010b).…”

Use of Acupuncture Among Patients with Prostate Cancer Covered by National Health Insurance in Taiwan: A Retrospective Population-Based Study

“…In Taiwan 20 Previous studies in Western countries showed the prevalence of acupuncture in the general population ranged from 0.4% to 1.6%. [1][2][3]21 For patients with prostate cancer, the prevalence of acupuncture was 1%-2% in in the United States and 2% in Japan.…”

Frequencies and prescription patterns of traditional Chinese medicine use among elderly patients in Taiwan: A population-based study

“…Elderly patients tend to use more non-pharmacological therapies, such as acupuncture and traumatology manipulative therapies, to relieve myalgia-and arthralgia-associated discomfort, which is a common complaint observed in geriatric patients (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Merck Company Foundation, 2007;Cheung et al, 2007). According to a previous study, most people use CAM for relieving chronic pain resulting from musculoskeletal system disorders or chronic illnesses (Linde et al, 2001), and another study reported that more than 80% of acupuncture visits were for musculoskeletal and neurological problems (Chen et al, 2006). Acupuncture has the advantage of directly stimulating the neurologic distribution of local soft tissue, and thus, is the most sought after option for treating musculoskeletal system disorders.…”