The Risk Management of Traditional Chinese Medicine Use: Survey Findings from the Community or Hospital Healthcare Professionals in Taiwan

• Published in: Drug safety Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 430 - 431
• Main Authors: Tsai, D H-T, Lai, E C-C, Hou, Y-C, Tsai, C-L, Lin, H-W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Auckland Springer Nature B.V 01.04.2023
• Subjects: Chinese medicine; Data collection; Evaluation; Health care; Herbal medicine; Medical personnel; Pharmacists; Questionnaires; Risk assessment; Risk management; Safety; Surveys; Traditional Chinese medicine; Taiwan
• ISSN: 0114-5916; 1179-1942

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is considered as conventional therapy, instead of an alternative treatment, in Taiwan. The concentrated extracts, but not decoction pieces, of TCM is reimbursed by National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan. However, the risk management of TCM use has not been well and comprehensively evaluated. This study aimed to assess the risk and its ideal management system of TCM use in Taiwan using survey data. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data through a questionnaire about the risk management of the TCM use from various TCM-related medical settings in Taiwan. Experienced healthcare professionals (HPs) of Chinese medicine practitioners were invited to share their responses and input. Data collection was performed online anonymously. The baseline characteristics of participants, the risk management on TCM use, the probable definitions of high-risk TCM, the safety concerns, the barriers of building TCM use risk management system were assessed in the questionnaire. The descriptive analyses were performed to describe the responses accordingly. Results: A total of 150 healthcare professionals (HPs) completed the questionnaire, 56.0% were males, and their mean age was 44.0±11.0 years. Most of the HPs were either physicians (74, 49.3%) or pharmacists (74, 49.3%). The mean practicing time was 10.1±9.5 years. Addressing the risk management approaches for TCM use, almost all HPs reported that concentrated TCM extracts, instead of decoction pieces, should be focused on (137, 91.3%). The definition of high-risk TCM referred to the definition of poisonous TCM recorded in ancient Chinese books or the exact definition of high-alert medicines (122, 81.3%) under reasonable use. The safety concerns were focused on these four dimensions: the TCM evaluation and supportive system (128, 85.3%), the TCM distribution and administration system (138, 92.0%), the TCM use in patients (111, 74.0%), or the follow-up service for TCM use (100, 66.7%). The most significant barrier to building a TCM use risk management system was not having enough trained pharmacists (90, 60.0%). Conclusion: The study highlights the current situation regarding the risk management system for TCM use and suggests that monitoring of concentrated TCM extracts may be necessary. Further research is needed to establish a standard protocol for the risk management system of TCM use in Taiwan.