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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

Identifying Chinese herbal medicine for premenstrual syndrome: implications from a nationwide database

Authors: Hsing-Yu Chen, Ben-Shian Huang, Yi-Hsuan Lin, Irene H Su, Sien-Hung Yang, Jiun-Liang Chen, Jen-Wu Huang, Yu-Chun Chen

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) occurs in women during their reproductive age with a quite negative impact on their daily lives. Women with PMS experience a wide range of physical or psychological symptoms and seek treatment for them. Chinese herb medicine (CHM) is commonly used for PMS and the goal of this study is to investigate the prescription patterns of CHM for PMS by using a nationwide database.

Methods

Prescriptions of CHM were obtained from two million beneficiaries randomly sampled from the National Health Insurance Research Database, a nationwide database in Taiwan. The ICD-9 code 625.4 was used to identify patients with PMS. Association rule mining and social network analysis were used to explore both the combinations and the core treatments for PMS.

Results

During 1998-2011, a total of 14,312 CHM prescriptions for PMS were provided. Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San (JWXYS) was the CHM which had the highest prevalence (37.5% of all prescriptions) and also the core of prescription network for PMS. For combination of two CHM, JWXYS with Cyperus rotundus L. was prescribed most frequently, 7.7% of all prescriptions, followed by JWXYS with Leonurus heterophyllus Sweet, 5.9%, and Cyperus rotundus L. with Leonurus heterophyllus Sweet, 5.6%.

Conclusions

JWXYS-centered CHM combinations were most commonly prescribed for PMS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first pharmaco-epidemiological study to review CHM treatments for PMS. However, the efficacy and safety of these commonly used CHM were still lacking. The results of this study provide valuable references for further clinical trials and bench studies.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Identifying Chinese herbal medicine for premenstrual syndrome: implications from a nationwide database
Authors
Hsing-Yu Chen
Ben-Shian Huang
Yi-Hsuan Lin
Irene H Su
Sien-Hung Yang
Jiun-Liang Chen
Jen-Wu Huang
Yu-Chun Chen
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-14-206

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