Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25902837›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2015

Use of Chinese medicine correlates negatively with the consumption of conventional medicine and medical cost in patients with uterine fibroids: a population-based retrospective cohort study in Taiwan.

Shan-Yu Su, Chih-Hsin Muo, Donald E Morisky

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Transcriptional profiling of uterine leiomyoma rats treated by a traditional herb pair, Curcumae rhizoma and Sparganii rhizoma.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2019
    Article
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

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Shan-Yu SuDepartment of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, No. 2 Yude road, Taichung, 40447, Taiwan. shanyusu@yahoo.com.tw.
Chih-Hsin MuoCollege of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan. A17776@mail.cmuh.org.tw.
Donald E MoriskyDepartment of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA. dmorisky@ucla.edu.
China Medical University · TWUCLA Health · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChinese medicine is commonly used and covered by health insurance to treat symptoms of uterine fibroids in Taiwan. This retrospective cohort study compared the consumption of conventional western medicine and medical cost between Chinese medicine (CM) users and nonusers among patients with uterine fibroids.

methodsWe extracted 44,122 patients diagnosed with uterine fibrosis between 1996 and 2010 from the National Health Insurance reimbursement database, which is a population-based database released by a government-run health insurance system. Multivariate linear regression models were used to find association between using Chinese medicine and the consumption of conventional medicine, and between using Chinese medicine and medical cost.

resultsThe total fibroid-related conventional western medicine consumed by CM users was less than that by nonusers (β = -10.49, P < 0.0001). Three categories of conventional medicines, including antianemics (-3.50 days/year/patient, P < 0.0001), hemostatics (- 1.89 days/year/patient, P < 0.0001), and hormone-related agents (-3.13 days/year/patient, P < 0.0001), were used less in patients who were CM users. Moreover, although using CM increased 16.9 USD per patient in CM users annually (P < 0.0001), the total annual medical cost for treating fibroid was 5610 USD less in CM users than in nonusers (P < 0.0001).

conclusionsOur results suggested that CM reduced the consumption of conventional medicine, and might be a potential therapeutic substitute for conventional western medicines to treat uterine fibroids with low cost.

Indexed as

Health Care CostsPatient Acceptance of Health CareAdultCohort StudiesDrugs, Chinese HerbalFemaleHemostaticsHormonesHumansInsurance, HealthLeiomyomaMedicine, Chinese TraditionalMiddle AgedPhytotherapyRetrospective StudiesTaiwanDrugs, Chinese HerbalHemostaticsHormones

Identifiers

PMID25902837
PMCPMC4414285
OpenAlexW1990964364

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.