Table 1.
Sociodemographic factors of pediatric and adult patients with leukemia according to use of TCM.
| Characteristic | Pediatric (N = 2,355) | Adult (N = 10,208) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCM users | TCM nonusers | Adjusted OR‡
(95% CI) |
TCM users | TCM nonusers | Adjusted OR‡
(95% CI) |
|||||
| N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |||
| Number of patients | 292 | 2,063 | 936 | 9,272 | ||||||
| Age, years | ||||||||||
| 0–6 | 139 | 47.60 | 1,016 | 49.25 | 1.00 | |||||
| 7–12 | 89 | 30.48 | 480 | 23.27 | 1.10 (0.81–1.50) | |||||
| 13–18 | 64 | 21.92 | 567 | 27.48 | 0.64 (0.46–0.89)∗∗ | |||||
| 19–40 | 274 | 29.27 | 2,199 | 23.72 | 1.00 | |||||
| 41–60 | 379 | 40.38 | 3,012 | 32.48 | 0.95 (0.80–1.13) | |||||
| 61–80 | 284 | 30.34 | 4,061 | 43.80 | 0.60 (0.48–0.70)∗∗∗ | |||||
| Means (SD) | 8.03 | (5.07) | 8.41 | (5.65) | 51.26 | (15.67) | 55.39 | (17.24) | ||
| Gender | ||||||||||
| Female | 129 | 44.18 | 843 | 40.86 | 1.00 | 428 | 45.73 | 3,740 | 40.34 | 1.00 |
| Male | 163 | 55.82 | 1,220 | 59.14 | 0.83 (0.64–1.07) | 508 | 54.27 | 5,532 | 59.66 | 0.86 (0.74–0.99)∗ |
| TCM use one year prior to leukemia diagnosis | ||||||||||
| TCM nonusers | 180 | 61.64 | 1,523 | 73.82 | 1.00 | 437 | 46.69 | 6,048 | 65.23 | 1.00 |
| TCM users | 112 | 38.36 | 540 | 26.18 | 1.62 (1.23–2.13)∗∗∗ | 499 | 53.31 | 3,224 | 34.77 | 1.97 (1.71–2.26)∗∗∗ |
| Insured amount (NT$/month) | ||||||||||
| <20,000 | 286 | 97.95 | 2,035 | 98.64 | 1.00 | 610 | 65.17 | 6,736 | 72.65 | 1.00 |
| 20,000–39,999 | 6 | 2.05 | 27 | 1.31 | 2.02 (0.79–5.15) | 197 | 21.05 | 1,613 | 17.40 | 1.23 (1.02–1.47)∗ |
| 40,000–59,999 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.05 | — | 101 | 10.79 | 735 | 7.93 | 1.48 (1.15–1.90)∗∗ |
| ≥60,000 | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | 2.99 | 188 | 2.03 | 1.65 (1.08–2.55)∗ |
| Urbanization | ||||||||||
| Level 1 (highest) | 78 | 26.71 | 564 | 27.34 | 1.00 | 278 | 29.70 | 2,521 | 27.19 | 1.00 |
| Level 2 | 97 | 33.22 | 655 | 31.75 | 0.85 (0.59–1.24) | 279 | 29.81 | 2,698 | 29.10 | 0.86 (0.70–1.04) |
| Level 3 | 48 | 16.44 | 371 | 17.98 | 0.52 (0.32–0.82)∗∗ | 149 | 15.92 | 1,625 | 17.53 | 0.67 (0.53–0.85)∗∗∗ |
| Level 4 | 45 | 15.41 | 296 | 14.35 | 0.63 (0.39–1.02) | 134 | 14.32 | 1,329 | 14.34 | 0.74 (0.58–0.96)∗ |
| Level 5 (lowest) | 24 | 8.22 | 177 | 8.58 | 0.63 (0.34–1.14) | 96 | 10.26 | 1,098 | 11.84 | 0.69 (0.51–0.94)∗ |
| Residential area | ||||||||||
| Northern | 32 | 10.96 | 304 | 14.74 | 1.00 | 85 | 9.08 | 1,245 | 13.43 | 1.00 |
| Taipei | 75 | 25.68 | 750 | 36.35 | 0.76 (0.46–1.24) | 274 | 29.27 | 229 | 34.83 | 1.01 (0.77–1.34) |
| Central | 104 | 35.62 | 306 | 14.83 | 3.33 (2.12–5.23)∗∗∗ | 265 | 28.31 | 1,623 | 17.51 | 2.41 (1.85–3.14)∗∗∗ |
| Southern | 36 | 12.33 | 324 | 15.71 | 1.17 (0.69–1.99) | 163 | 17.41 | 1,372 | 14.80 | 1.95 (1.47–2.59)∗∗∗ |
| Eastern | 3 | 1.03 | 42 | 2.04 | 0.73 (0.21–2.58) | 27 | 2.88 | 261 | 2.82 | 1.78 (1.11–2.84)∗ |
| Kao-Ping | 42 | 14.38 | 337 | 16.34 | 1.16 (0.70–1.92) | 122 | 13.03 | 1,541 | 16.62 | 1.13 (0.84–1.52) |
| Insured unit | ||||||||||
| Government, school employees | 39 | 13.59 | 176 | 9.30 | 1.00 | 130 | 13.92 | 1,056 | 11.42 | 1.00 |
| Private enterprise employees | 145 | 50.52 | 916 | 48.39 | 0.70 (0.47–1.05) | 404 | 43.25 | 3,533 | 38.21 | 0.91 (0.73–1.13) |
| Occupational member | 37 | 12.89 | 342 | 18.07 | 0.47 (0.28–0.77)∗∗ | 198 | 21.20 | 1,973 | 21.34 | 0.87 (0.68–1.12) |
| Farmers, fishermen | 36 | 12.54 | 226 | 11.94 | 0.69 (0.40–1.18) | 141 | 15.10 | 1,827 | 19.76 | 0.80 (0.60–1.07) |
| Low-income households and veterans registered in local government agency | 30 | 10.45 | 233 | 12.31 | 0.58 (0.34–0.98) | 61 | 6.53 | 857 | 9.27 | 0.73 (0.52–1.02) |
| Number of days taking TCM, means (SD) | 184 | (328) | — | — | 107 | (254) | — | — | ||
| OPD visits for TCM, means (SD) | 20.3 | (35.3) | — | — | 10.5 | (22.8) | — | — | ||
| Cancer subtype | ||||||||||
| Lymphoid leukemia | 205 | 70.21 | 1,377 | 66.75 | 1.00 | 217 | 23.18 | 1,896 | 20.45 | 1.00 |
| Myeloid leukemia | 79 | 27.05 | 609 | 29.52 | 1.10 (0.83–1.44) | 649 | 69.34 | 6,670 | 71.94 | 0.85 (0.72–1.00) |
| Uncertain | 8 | 2.74 | 77 | 3.73 | 0.88 (0.42–1.85) | 70 | 7.48 | 706 | 7.61 | 0.87 (0.65–1.15) |
ICD-9-CM: lymphoid leukemia, 204.xx; myeloid leukemia, 205.xx.
TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine; OR: odd ratio; SD: standard deviation; CI: confidence interval; OPD: outpatient department.
∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, and ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.
‡Adjusted ORs were from the model considering age, gender, visit one year ago, insured amount, urbanization, residential area, and insured unit.