Table 2. Patient characteristics by visit frequency of acupuncture clinics.
| Variables | Values | Frequency of visits (per year) | P-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <24 | 24–47 | 48–95 | ≥96 | ||||
| Total | 1409 | 272 (19.3) | 353 (25.1) | 539 (38.3) | 202 (14.3) | ||
| Age (years) | 58 (44, 69) | 55 (41, 66) | 55 (43, 66) | 60 (44, 70) | 60 (46, 73) | <0.001 | |
| 16–39 | 228 | 48 (21.1) | 64 (28.1) | 91 (39.9) | 25 (11.0) | 0.007 | |
| 40–59 | 496 | 115 (23.2) | 138 (27.8) | 168 (33.9) | 73 (14.7) | ||
| ≥60 | 659 | 107 (16.2) | 143 (21.7) | 270 (41.0) | 101 (15.3) | ||
| Sex | Male | 395 | 85 (21.5) | 101 (25.6) | 136 (34.4) | 64 (16.2) | 0.205 |
| Female | 996 | 185 (18.6) | 246 (24.7) | 396 (39.8) | 137 (13.8) | ||
| Working status | Not working | 698 | 128 (18.3) | 161 (23.1) | 276 (39.5) | 103 (14.8) | 0.319 |
| Working | 657 | 140 (21.3) | 175 (26.6) | 243 (37.0) | 93 (14.2) | ||
| Location of acupuncture clinic | Rural | 1040 | 175 (16.8) | 242 (23.3) | 414 (39.8) | 172 (16.5) | <0.001 |
| Urban | 369 | 97 (26.3) | 111 (30.1) | 125 (33.9) | 30 (8.1) | ||
| Household income (yen) | <3 million | 429 | 82 (19.1) | 92 (21.4) | 160 (37.3) | 70 (16.3) | 0.386 |
| 3–4.9 million | 384 | 78 (20.3) | 108 (28.1) | 133 (34.6) | 58 (15.1) | ||
| 5–6.9 million | 222 | 42 (18.9) | 62 (27.9) | 88 (39.6) | 27 (12.2) | ||
| 7–9.9 million | 176 | 38 (21.6) | 48 (27.3) | 70 (39.8) | 20 (11.4) | ||
| ≥10 million | 110 | 21 (19.1) | 21 (19.1) | 51 (46.4) | 16 (14.5) | ||
| Education level | Lower than HS | 197 | 34 (17.3) | 34 (17.3) | 83 (42.1) | 32 (16.2) | 0.176 |
| HS graduate | 498 | 95 (19.1) | 132 (26.5) | 195 (39.2) | 67 (13.5) | ||
| Higher than HS graduate | 660 | 138 (20.9) | 177 (26.8) | 242 (36.7) | 94 (14.2) | ||
| Pain | No | 210 | 39 (18.6) | 57 (27.1) | 83 (39.5) | 25 (11.9) | 0.682 |
| Yes | 1172 | 226 (19.3) | 291 (24.8) | 450 (38.4) | 173 (14.8) | ||
| Treatment costs (yen) | 0–1,000 | 214 | 6 (2.8) | 21 (9.8) | 94 (43.9) | 79 (36.9) | <0.001 |
| 1,001–2,000 | 205 | 21 (10.2) | 45 (22.0) | 97 (47.3) | 37 (18.0) | ||
| 2,001–3,000 | 287 | 53 (18.5) | 78 (27.2) | 109 (38.0) | 38 (13.2) | ||
| 3,001–4,000 | 382 | 99 (25.9) | 116 (30.4) | 129 (33.8) | 29 (7.6) | ||
| 4,001–5,000 | 196 | 57 (29.1) | 56 (28.6) | 74 (37.8) | 8 (4.1) | ||
| ≥ 5,001 | 99 | 29 (29.3) | 32 (32.3) | 31 (31.3) | 5 (5.1) | ||
| Use of conventional medicine | No | 854 | 186 (21.8) | 242 (28.3) | 310 (36.3) | 100 (11.7) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 529 | 82 (15.5) | 110 (20.8) | 223 (42.2) | 100 (18.9) | ||
| Use of other CAMs | No | 1253 | 244 (19.5) | 317 (25.3) | 486 (38.8) | 182 (14.5) | 0.950 |
| Yes | 130 | 24 (18.5) | 35 (26.9) | 47 (36.2) | 18 (13.8) | ||
| Trust in the practitioners | Not trust | 95 | 20 (21.1) | 16 (16.8) | 32 (33.7) | 22 (23.2) | 0.127 |
| Trust | 614 | 119 (19.4) | 151 (24.6) | 242 (39.4) | 86 (14.0) | ||
| Trust very much | 691 | 131 (19.0) | 183 (26.5) | 265 (38.4) | 92 (13.3) | ||
| Effectiveness of treatment | Not effective | 221 | 28 (12.7) | 55 (24.9) | 91 (41.2) | 39 (17.6) | 0.029 |
| Effective | 768 | 158 (20.6) | 185 (24.1) | 309 (40.2) | 101 (13.2) | ||
| Very effective | 397 | 81 (20.4) | 109 (27.5) | 130 (32.7) | 60 (15.1) | ||
| Number of symptoms | 5 (3, 9) | 5 (3, 8) | 5 (3, 8) | 5 (3, 9) | 5.5 (3, 10) | 0.461 | |
| Duration of visits (years) | 3 (1, 6) | 5 (2, 10) | 3 (1, 8) | 2 (0.7, 5) | 1 (0.3, 3) | <0.001 | |
| SF-36 | PCS | 46.6 (37.5, 53.0) | 48.9 (43.2, 53.5) | 47.2 (39.8, 53.4) | 45.9 (36.1, 53.2) | 41.9 (30.6, 51.7) | <0.001 |
| MCS | 48.8 (41.4, 55.3) | 49.4 (42.4, 55.2) | 48.6 (41.3, 54.3) | 48.7 (41.3, 55.5) | 48.5 (40.8, 54.8) | 0.546 | |
| RCS | 49.6 (39.4, 56.5) | 51.3 (43.3, 57.1) | 51.0 (42.1, 57.6) | 49.3 (38.5, 56.3) | 45.4 (34.5, 54.5) | <0.001 | |
HS, High school; CAM, complementary and alternative medicine; SF-36, Short-Form 36; PCS, physical component summary; MCS, mental component summary; RCS, role/social component summary.
For “Age”, the data show both median (25th percentile, 75th percentile) and n (%). For “Number of symptoms”, “Duration of visits”, and “SF-36”, the data show median (25th percentile, 75th percentile), and for other variables, the data show n (%).