Table 1.
Characteristics of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) users and nonusers among patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) in Taiwan in 2010 (N = 89,148).
| CHM users, n = 33,507 | CHM nonusers, n = 55,641 | p value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 14,607 | (43.6%) | 29,276 | (52.6%) | <0.001 |
| Female | 18,900 | (56.4%) | 26,365 | (47.4%) | — |
|
| |||||
| Age, years | |||||
| 0–20 | 12,572 | (37.5%) | 22,941 | (41.2%) | <0.001 |
| 21–40 | 10,350 | (30.9%) | 12,869 | (23.1%) | — |
| 41– | 10,585 | (31.6%) | 19,831 | (35.6%) | — |
|
| |||||
| Urbanization level | <0.001 | ||||
| 1 (most urbanization) | 19,229 | (57.4%) | 33,689 | (60.5%) | — |
| 2 | 11,362 | (33.9%) | 17,205 | (30.9%) | — |
| 3 (least urbanization) | 2,916 | (8.7%) | 4,747 | (8.5%) | — |
|
| |||||
| Insured level (in NTD per month) | <0.001 | ||||
| 1–19,999 | 21,110 | (63.0%) | 37,326 | (67.1%) | — |
| 20,000–39,999 | 8,485 | (25.3%) | 12,242 | (22.0%) | — |
| 40,000– | 3,912 | (11.7%) | 6,073 | (10.9%) | — |
|
| |||||
| Combined allergic disease | |||||
| Atopic dermatitis | 5,957 | (17.8%) | 9,275 | (16.7%) | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 4,178 | (12.5%) | 9,836 | (17.7%) | <0.001 |
| Chronic sinusitis | 1,311 | (3.9%) | 1,720 | (3.1%) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||
| Conventional treatment | |||||
| 1st antihistamine | 10,614 | (31.7%) | 18,496 | (33.2%) | <0.001 |
| 2nd antihistamine | 26,280 | (78.4%) | 49,693 | (89.3%) | <0.001 |
| Decongestants | 8,384 | (25.0%) | 13,229 | (23.8%) | <0.001 |
| Intranasal antihistamine | 157 | (0.5%) | 422 | (0.8%) | <0.001 |
| Intranasal corticosteroid | 6,156 | (18.4%) | 14,587 | (26.2%) | <0.001 |
| Leukotriene receptor antagonists | 1,095 | (3.3%) | 2,723 | (4.9%) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||
| Types of medications | |||||
| 0 | 5,097 | (15.2%) | 2,672 | (4.8%) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 11,613 | (34.7%) | 21,234 | (38.2%) | — |
| 2 | 10,691 | (31.9%) | 19,975 | (35.9%) | — |
| ≥3 | 6,106 | (18.2%) | 11,761 | (21.1%) | — |
NTD, new Taiwan dollar (exchange rate: about 30 NTD–1 USD).