[169] Factors Associated with the Use of Pain Management-Related Medications among the Non-Cancer Elderly Patients Ever Utilized Traditional Chinese Medicine Services: A Retrospective Population-Based Cohort Study
Hsiang-Wen Lin, Li-Ping Chen, Chih-Hsueh Lin, Che-Yi Chou, Hsin-Hui Tsai. School of Pharmacy and Graduate Institute, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Pharmacy, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan;
Graduate Institute of Acupunture Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Background: The acupuncture is one of common approaches to manage pain.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with the incidence use of pain management medications among the non-cancer elderly who ever utilized Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) services in Taiwan.
Methods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted using two-million random samples of Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Databases. Those elderly patients without cancers and ever utilized TCM services in 2008 were evaluated for their usages of acupuncture and Chinese medications in the first half of 2009 and the incidence use of pain management-related medications in the last half of 2009. The pain management-related medications included pain medications (e.g., narcotics, NSAIDs), muscle relaxants (e.g., benzodiazepines), and neuroleptic agents (e.g, Gabapentin). The demographics, diseases, and health care utilization were potential contributing factors of interest. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression tests were performed to explore the factors associated with the incidence use of pain management-related medications.
Results: Of 44,589 non-cancer elderly patients who ever utilized TCM services in Taiwan in 2008, 12,520 (32.3%) ever utilized acupuncture services in the first six months in 2009. After adjusting for factors, those TCM use elderly who ever use of acupuncture, male, with cerebral vascular diseases, rheumatic diseases, osteoarthritis, lower back pain,ever utilized more outpatient visits and inpatient visits, and Western medications tended to newly use of pain management-related medications. In contrast, those TCM use elderly who were aged more than 85, ever use Chinese medications, with diabetes mellitus, liver diseases, and with more incomes tended not to newly use pain management-related medications.
Conclusions: More attention should be made toward the tendency of using pain
management-related medications among those elderly patients who had certain diseases and utilized more health services, including acupuncture.
Poster Number: 90
Date/Time: Saturday, October 25, 2014 8:00 AM Room: 101
