Traditional & Alternative Medicine

Ethno Pharmacological Relevance: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used in the treatment of fracture for thousands of years. However, large-scale surveys examining the utilization of Chinese herbal products (CHPs) for treating fractures and their related symptoms are lacking. Aim: Th is study aimed to investigate the prescription patterns of CHPs among patients with fractures in Taiwan. Materials & Methods: Th e TCM usage in patients with fractures was analyzed using a sample of one million individuals randomly selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database who were newly diagnosis with fractures in 2001-2008, with a followed-up period through 2010. Results: We identifi ed 115,327 patients who were newly diagnosed with fractures in the study population. Among them, 4.97% (n<5731) adjunctively utilized the TCM for fracture treatment. TCM users were mostly young or middle-aged, female, and resided in highly urbanized areas. With regard to the comorbidities of fractures, TCM users had a lower prevalence of coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and stroke than non-TCM users, except for osteoporosis. Shu-jing-huo-xue-tang was the most frequently prescribed Chinese herbal formula, while Rhizoma Drynariae (Gu-sui-bu) was the most common single herb for patients with fractures. Th e CHPs were found to cover not only bone healing but also fracture-related symptoms. TCM users had lower medical expenditure for hospitalization for the fi rst six months aft er incident fractures than non- TCM users (1749±72650 versus 2274±73159 US dollars, p<0.0001). Conclusions: Our study identifi ed the TCM utilization for patients with fractures in Taiwan. Integration of TCM treatment reduced the medical costs for hospitalization. Further basic research and clinical studies to investigate the mechanism and clinical effi cacies of CHPs are warranted.