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Factors Associated with Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine among Women with Breast and Gynecologic Cancer in Taiwan

Monday, 7 July 2008
Fang-Chun Wei, MS, RN , Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
Li-Yin Chien, ScD , Institute of Community Health Nursing, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to be aware of high rate of joint use of Traditional Chinese MedicineiTCMjamong women with cancer in Taiwan.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to know the characteristics associated with joint use of Traditional Chinese Medicine among women with cancer in Taiwan.

Taiwan has a two-tiered medical system including modern medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Use of TCM is very popular in cancer sufferers, but few studies examined factors associated with this phenomenon. This study applied a cross-sectional design. The inclusion criteria were women who had cervical cancer, breast cancer and ovary cancer for more than 1 year, and women who received modern medical treatment during the past year. TCM group was defined as receiving TCM prescribed by a qualified TCM doctor for more than 2 months during the past year. Women who did not meet the criteria of TCM group were in the Modern medicine group (MM). The study participants were 216 women, with 101 in the TCM group, and 115 in the MM group. A face-to-face interview with structured questionnaires was conducted. The study variables included socio-demographics, disease characteristics; prior experiences in seeking medical care, and health locus of control. Data analyses were performed using binary logistic regression.

The results showed that TCM group were more likely to report external health control by significant others than the MM group (OR=1.12; 95% CI: 1.03-1.2). TCM group were more likely to have consulted their oncologists about TCM use (OR=37.1, 95% CI: 3.7-311.9). TCM group were more likely to report that their friends/relatives agreed their use of TCM (OR=17.6, 95% CI: 5.6-55.7). These factors account for 41% of the model variances.

This study found that use of TCM among women with breast and gynecologic cancer is influenced by their friends/relatives and health care providers. Health professionals should understand treatment expectations of women with cancer and their family members. Information regarding different treatment options need to be provided in order to support women choosing treatment method that meets their needs.

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