Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23093982›Full record

ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2012

Utilization of and Attitudes towards Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapies in a Chinese Cancer Hospital: A Survey of Patients and Physicians.

Jennifer L McQuade, Zhiqiang Meng, Zhen Chen, Qi Wei, Ying Zhang, Wenying Bei, J Lynn Palmer, Lorenzo Cohen

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
10.5field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Dual trajectories of patient-reported fatigue and sleep disturbance in lung cancer survivors.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Article
  5. Cancer and Traditional Medicine: An Integrative Approach.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
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  19. Case series and review of Ayurvedic medication induced liver injury.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2021
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Jennifer L McQuadeDepartment of Internal Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Zhiqiang Meng
Zhen Chen
Qi Wei
Ying Zhang
Wenying Bei
J Lynn Palmer
Lorenzo Cohen
Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center · CNThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · USHospital of the University of Pennsylvania · US

Funding

International Center of TCM for CancerU19CA121503 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI COHEN, LORENZO · 2005 to 2010
$3.0M
NCI NIH HHS U19 CA121503
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background. In China, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is very popular, but little is known about how it is integrated with conventional cancer care. We conducted parallel surveys of patients and physicians on TCM utilization. Methods. Two hundred forty-five patients and 72 allopathic physicians at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center completed questions on their use of and attitude towards TCM. Results. Patient mean age was 51, with 60% female. Eighty-three percent of patients had used TCM. Use was greatest for Chinese herbal medicine (CHM; 55.8%). Only 1.3% of patients used acupuncture and 6.8% Qi Gong or Tai Qi. Sixty-three percent of patients notified their oncologist about TCM use. The most common reason for use was to improve immune function. CHM was often used with a goal of treating cancer (66.4%), a use that 57% of physicians agreed with. Physicians were most concerned with interference with treatment, lack of evidence, and safety. Ninety percent of physicians have prescribed herbs and 87.5% have used TCM themselves. Conclusion. The use of TCM by Chinese cancer patients is exceptionally high, and physicians are generally well informed and supportive of patients' use. Botanical agents are much more commonly used than acupuncture or movement-based therapies.

Identifiers

PMID23093982
PMCPMC3475319
OpenAlexW2135479340

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.