↓ Skip to main content

Patterns of Chinese medicine use in prescriptions for treating Alzheimer’s disease in Taiwan

Overview of attention for article published in Chinese Medicine, March 2016
Altmetric Badge

About this Attention Score

  • Average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (57th percentile)

Mentioned by

twitter
3 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page

Citations

dimensions_citation
18 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
49 Mendeley
You are seeing a free-to-access but limited selection of the activity Altmetric has collected about this research output. Click here to find out more.
Title
Patterns of Chinese medicine use in prescriptions for treating Alzheimer’s disease in Taiwan
Published in
Chinese Medicine, March 2016
DOI 10.1186/s13020-016-0086-9
Pubmed ID
Authors

Shun-Ku Lin, Sui-Hing Yan, Jung-Nien Lai, Tung-Hu Tsai

Abstract

Certain Chinese medicine (CM) herbs and acupuncture may protect against Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is a lack of research regarding the use of CM in patients with AD. The aim of this study was to investigate CM usage patterns in patients with AD, and identify the Chinese herbal formulae most commonly used for AD. This retrospective, nationwide, population-based cohort study was conducted using a randomly sampled cohort of one million patients, selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database between 1997 and 2008 in Taiwan. CM use and the top ten most frequently prescribed formulae for treating AD were assessed, including average formulae dose and frequency of prescriptions. Demographic characteristics, including sex, age and insurance level were examined, together with geographic location. Existing medical conditions with the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and medications associated with CM were also examined. Factors associated with CM use were analyzed by multiple logistic regressions. The cohort included 1137 newly diagnosed AD patients, who were given conventional treatment for AD between 1997 and 2008. Among them, 78.2 % also used CM treatments, including Chinese herbal remedies, acupuncture and massage manipulation. Female patients (aOR 1.57 with 95 % CI 1.16-2.13) and those living in urban areas (aOR 3.00 with 95 % CI 1.83-4.90 in the middle of Taiwan) were more likely to use CM. After adjusting for demographic factors, AD patients suffering from the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia were more likely to seek CM treatment than those with no symptoms (aOR 2.26 with 95 % CI 1.48-3.43 in patients suffering more than three symptoms). Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang and Ji-Sheng-Shen-Qi-Wan were the two formulae most frequently prescribed by CM practitioners for treating AD. Most people with AD who consumed herbal products used supplement qi, nourish the blood, and quiet the heart spirit therapy as complementary medicines to relieve AD-related symptoms, in addition to using standard anti-AD treatments.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 49 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 2%
Unknown 48 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 9 18%
Student > Bachelor 6 12%
Researcher 5 10%
Student > Ph. D. Student 3 6%
Professor 3 6%
Other 12 24%
Unknown 11 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 17 35%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 4 8%
Social Sciences 3 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 3 6%
Nursing and Health Professions 3 6%
Other 7 14%
Unknown 12 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 September 2016.
All research outputs
#15,169,543
of 25,374,647 outputs
Outputs from Chinese Medicine
#221
of 660 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#159,064
of 315,688 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Chinese Medicine
#5
of 14 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,647 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 38th percentile – i.e., 38% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 660 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.0. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 315,688 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 48th percentile – i.e., 48% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 14 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its contemporaries.