Management of respiratory disorders in a Chinese medicine teaching clinic in Australia: review of clinical records

BACKGROUND: People seek Chinese medicine (CM) treatments for a variety of respiratory disorders, e.g., asthma and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). No previous studies have reviewed the data available in medical records from Australian clinics. This study aims to identify the characteristics of patients with respiratory disorders who visited a CM teaching clinic at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. METHODS: Primary data from January 2010 to December 2011 were collected from patient records in a CM teaching clinic at RMIT University. Patient data, including demographics, primary complaint, clinical history, lifestyle, CM treatment, and adverse events, were analyzed with descriptive statistics and the Chi square test using SPSS version 21.0. RESULTS: From 1677 clinical records we identified 261 patients with respiratory disorders. The patients made a total of 842 visits (mean: 3.2 visits/patient; range: 1–34 visits) during the study period. The mean age of the patients was 38.5 ± 17.9 years, and the majority were female (65.5 %). The most common respiratory disorders were URTI (27.8 %), cough (20.8 %), hay fever or allergic rhinitis (18.6 %), sinus congestion (11.2 %), and asthma (7.6 %). Acupuncture was given at almost all visits (97.5 %) and was frequently combined with herbs (64.0 %). Fifteen adverse events were reported, but none were considered severe. CONCLUSION: In the CM teaching clinic, respiratory conditions were a common presenting complaint of patients, and were safely treated with a combination of acupuncture and herbs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13020-015-0063-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.