ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2026
Caregivers' motivations for using pediatric Tuina for recurrent respiratory tract infections in young children in Southern China: a qualitative study.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCaregivers have specific concerns and preferences when seeking healthcare for their young children affected by recurrent respiratory tract infections. In China, medical pluralism is widespread. Caregivers of sick children often seek treatment from both biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. One traditional medicine practice is pediatric Tuina, a soft massage technique administered by trained providers, which has been used to prevent new respiratory infections. However, there is limited understanding of caregivers’ perspectives on pediatric Tuina. In this study, we aim to understand why caregivers in Southern China turn to pediatric Tuina for their children’s recurrent respiratory tract infections.
methodsA qualitative interview design was used in this study. Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling technique. Sixteen mothers from Southern China, whose children had undergone pediatric Tuina in a clinical trial for recurrent respiratory tract infections, participated in online semi-structured interviews. Informed consent was obtained by first explaining the study’s purpose to caregivers over the phone, followed by the exchange of signed printed forms via express delivery. The analysis was conducted using reflexive thematic analysis with NVivo qualitative research software. Good’s model was used as a sensitizing concept.
resultsThis exploratory study presents context-specific insights into caregivers’ healthcare-seeking behaviors. The overarching theme was adopting a proactive and child-centered approach in choosing the appropriate type of care for sick children, encompassing four subthemes: home-based management of early symptoms, preference for individualized care, orientation toward sustained therapeutic outcomes, and concerns regarding long-term medication exposure. The findings capture the motivations of caregivers who were predisposed to using or accepting Tuina, with limited representation of non-users.
conclusionsCaregivers choose pediatric Tuina for managing recurrent respiratory tract infections primarily due to their preference for holistic, child-centered, and less invasive care. Recognizing these caregiving values is important for informing clinician-caregiver communication and for the development of integrative approaches in pediatric healthcare.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.