Prescription characteristics of Xue-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang in pain management: a population-based study using the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan

Chun-En Kuo; Sheng-Feng Hsu; Ching-Chih Chen; Szu-Ying Wu; Yu-Chiang Hung; Chung Y Hsu; I-Ju Tsai; Wen-Long Hu

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1233156

Prescription characteristics of Xue-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang in pain management: a population-based study using the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Nov 21:14:1233156. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1233156. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chun-En Kuo^#^{1

2

3}, Sheng-Feng Hsu^#^{4

5}, Ching-Chih Chen¹, Szu-Ying Wu^{1

2}, Yu-Chiang Hung¹, Chung Y Hsu⁶, I-Ju Tsai^{7

8}, Wen-Long Hu^{1

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
² School of Chinese Medicine for Post Baccalaureate, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
³ Department of Leisure and Sports Management, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taipei Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁷ Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁸ College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁹ Kaohsiung Medical University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Fooyin University College of Nursing, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the prevalence and distinctive features of Xue-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang (XFZYT) prescriptions by analyzing the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) to identify the specific medical problems for which XFZYT is prescribed. Methods: This nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional study included 109,073 XFZYT users and 532,848 XFZYT non-users among Chinese herbal product (CHP) users in NHIRD. Chi-squared tests were used to analyze disparities between the XFZYT user and XFZYT non-user cohorts, and the mean age was evaluated using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Logistic regression was used to compute the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Results: XFZYT was frequently used to treat pain. The top five conditions for which the Taiwanese traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners would prescribe XFZYT were chest pain; headache; myalgia and myositis; lumbago; and neuralgia, neuritis, and radiculitis. Conclusion: This study represents an inaugural comprehensive survey conducted on the utilization of XFZYT prescriptions among patients with diverse diseases. XFZYT is mostly used to treat pain conditions in Taiwan. Combined with the combination use of other CHPs, XFZYT is used to treat symptoms of the chest and respiratory system, soft tissue conditions, menstruation disorders, and joint and back discomfort. These results suggest that further clinical trials are warranted to verify the effects of XFZYT in pain management.

Keywords: National Health Insurance Research Database; chest pain; headache; lumbago; myalgia.

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial Center (MOHW108-TDU-B-212-133004), China Medical University Hospital, Academia Sinica Stroke Biosignature Project (BM10701010021), MOST Clinical Trial Consortium for Stroke (MOST 107-2321-B-039 -004-), Tseng-Lien Lin Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan, and Katsuzo and Kiyo Aoshima Memorial Funds, Japan. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.