Fac tors Re lated to Uti li za tion of Tra di tional Chi nese Med i cine in Tai wan

Com ple men tary and al ter na tive med i cine use is in creas ing world wide. Ex penses for com ple men tary and al ter na tive med i cines are high, while the ef fec tive ness of such med i cines is still in de bate. This pa per re - viewed the uti li za tion of com ple men tary and al ter na tive med i cines. Com ple men tary and al ter na tive ther a pies are used fre quently and in - creas ingly. Al ter na tive ther a pies were used of ten for chronic con di - tions, in clud ing back prob lems, anx i ety, de pres sion and head aches in the United States. Musculoskeletal and re spi ra tory com plaints were the most fre quent causes for com ple men tary and al ter na tive med i cine consulation in Is rael. In Tai wan, a sys tem atic se ries of stud ies on fac - tors re lated to uti li za tion of tra di tional Chi nese med i cine (TCM) were con ducted, in clud ing: (1) fac tors re lated to the choice of med i cal ser - vice (sin gle or dual ap proach); (2) fac tors re lated to the choice of clinic type be tween TCM and west ern med i cine among pa tients with sin gle ap proach and among pa tients with dual ap proach; (3) fac tors re lated to pa tient choice of in sti tute pro vid ing TCM (be tween TCM de part ment in teach ing hos pi tal and reg u lar TCM clinic) among pa tients us ing TCM only; and (4) knowl edge, at ti tude and be hav ioral in ten tion re - gard ing TCM among pa tients us ing TCM only and among com mu nity res i dents over 30 years old. The find ings of the above stud ies are sum - ma rized and pre sented ac cord ingly. (Chin Med J (Tai pei) 2001;64:191-202)