Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34745303›Full record

ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2021

Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Its Impact on Medical Cost among Urban Ischemic Stroke Inpatients in China: A National Cross-Sectional Study.

Zhengwei Huang, Xuefeng Shi, Stephen Nicholas, Elizabeth Maitland, Yong Yang, Weihan Zhao, Yong Ma, Yan Jiang

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

Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Aconitine accidental poisoning: two case reports and literature review.International journal of emergency medicine · 2026
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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 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Zhengwei HuangSchool of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7973-5269
Xuefeng ShiSchool of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7056-2912
Stephen NicholasAustralian National Institute of Management and Commerce, Eveleigh Sydney, NSW 2015, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6770-7105
Elizabeth MaitlandSchool of Management, University of Liverpool, Chatham Building, Chatham Street, Liverpool L697ZH, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1551-4787
Yong YangMedical Device Regulatory Research and Evaluation Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7916-8679
Weihan ZhaoSchool of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5967-2870
Yong MaChina Health Insurance Research Association, Beijing, China.
Yan JiangSchool of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2604-9219
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine · CNAustralian Institute of Health and Welfare · AUUniversity of Liverpool · GBWest China Medical Center of Sichuan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has long been widely adopted by the Chinese people and has been covered by China's basic medical insurance schemes to treat ischemic stroke. Previous research has mainly highlighted the therapy effect of TCM on ischemic stroke patients. Some studies have demonstrated that employing TCM can reduce the medical burden on other diseases. But no research has explored whether using TCM could reduce inpatient medical cost for ischemic stroke in mainland China. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the use of TCM on the total inpatient cost of ischemic stroke and to explore whether TCM has played the role of being complementary to, or an alternative for, conventional medicine to treat ischemic stroke.

methodsWe conducted a national cross-sectional analysis based on a 5% random sample from claims data of China Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) and Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) schemes in 2015. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare unadjusted total inpatient cost, conventional medication cost, and nonpharmacy cost estimates. Ordinary least square regression analysis was performed to compare demographics-adjusted total inpatient cost and to examine the association between TCM cost and conventional medication cost.

resultsA total of 47321 urban inpatients diagnosed with ischemic stroke were identified in our study, with 92.6% (43843) of the patients using TCM in their inpatient treatment. Total inpatient cost for TCM users was significantly higher than TCM nonusers (USD 1217 versus USD 1036,

conclusionAlthough the use of TCM reduced the cost of conventional medicine compared with TCM nonusers, TCM imposed an extra financial component on the total inpatient cost on TCM users. Our study suggests that TCM mainly played a complementary role to conventional medicine in ischemic stroke treatment in mainland China.

Identifiers

PMID34745303
PMCPMC8570870
OpenAlexW3210578428

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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.