The association between socioeconomic status and traditional chinese medicine use among children in Taiwan

A National Health Interview Survey was conducted in Taiwan in 2001 that included 5,971 children and adolescents. We assessed the children's SES using the head of household's education, occupation and income. This information was used to calculate pediatric SES scores, which in turn were divided into quartiles. Children and adolescents who visited TCM in the past month were defined as TCM users.Compared to children in the second SES quartile, children in the fourth SES quartile had a higher average number of TCM visits (0.12 vs. 0.06 visits, p = 0.027) and higher TCM use prevalence (5.0% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.024) within the past month. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for TCM use was higher for children in the fourth SES quartile than for those in the first SES quartile (OR 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-2.17). The corresponding OR was 2.17 for girls (95% CI 1.24-3.78). The highest-SES girls (aged 10-18 years) were most likely to visit TCM practices (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.25-4.90).Children and adolescents with high SES were more likely to use TCM and especially girls aged 10-18 years. Our findings point to the high use of complementary and alternative medicine among children and adolescents.Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is an increasingly popular therapeutic mode among adults and children all over the world [1-6]. CAM use and expenditures among adults in the US increased substantially between 1990 and 1997. This phenomenon has been attributed primarily to an increase in the proportion of the population seeking alternative therapies rather than to an increase in the number of visits per patient [1]. In 1997 it was estimated that 42% of US adults used CAM. At 629 million visits, CAM use by Americans in 1997 exceeded even the total number of visits to primary care physicians [1]. The prevalence of CAM use remained stable from 1997 to 2002 [7]. About 40% of parents in the US were CAM users during this time, whereas 21% had treated their child with CAM over the