The utilization of traditional Chinese medicine in patients with dysfunctional uterine bleeding in Taiwan: a nationwide population-based study

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the patients with newly diagnosed dysfunctional uterine bleeding from 1997 to 2010 in Taiwan

Variable	non-TCM seekers		TCM seekers		p value^§
	n = 4779 (10.31%)		n = 41,558 (89.69%)
	n	%	n	%
Age at baseline					<.0001
18–29	1813	37.94	19,241	46.3
30–39	1424	29.8	12,032	28.95
≥ 40	1542	32.27	10,285	24.75
Mean (SD)	34.84(10.42)		32.59(9.58)		<.0001^‡
Urbanization levels					0.0042
1 (highest)	1554	32.54	12,975	31.23
2	1509	31.6	12,944	31.16
3	780	16.33	7656	18.43
4+ (lowest)	933	19.54	7966	19.18
Conventional drug use
Progesterone^a	2475	51.79	26,681	64.2	<.0001
Estorgen	2291	47.94	24,531	59.03	<.0001
Combined oral contraceptives	364	7.62	4752	11.43	<.0001
Danazol	45	0.94	766	1.84	<.0001
GnRH agonists	2	0.04	18	0.04	0.99^$
Tranexamic acid	2861	97.51	41,335	99.51	<.0001
NSAIDs	4660	97.51	41,355	99.51	<.0001
Surgery in the follow-up period^b					0.0184
No	4230	88.51	36,288	87.32
Yes	549	11.49	5270	12.68

^‡t test; ^§Chi-square; ^$Fisher exact test
Abbreviations: TCM traditional Chinese medicint, NSAIDs non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
^aProgesterone: progesterone only pills, medroxyprogesterone acetate
^bSurgery: endometrial ablation, resection, and hysterectomy

ISSN: 2662-7671