Medical care-seeking patterns among women with menstrual syndromes-related diagnoses: a longitudinal population-based study

BACKGROUND: Many women experience menstruation-related health issues during their child-bearing years. This study aimed to evaluate women’s tendency to seek Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and/or Western Medicine (WM) when newly diagnosed with menstrual syndromes and to identify factors associated with their medical care-seeking behaviors. METHODS: The data of a total of 47,097 women aged between 15 and 50 years with newly diagnosed menstrual syndromes in 2005 were extracted from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database. The follow-up period was divided equally into 6 month segments over 5 years starting with patients’ first visit for obstetric/gynecologic care. Outcomes were outpatient visits and number of TCM or WM visits during each period. Patients’ tendency for medical care utilization was estimated using Poisson regression analysis. RESULTS: Number of outpatient visits using TCM was 0.62 (29187/47097), and using WM was 1.67 (78697/47097) within 6 months after the first menstrual syndrome diagnosis. The tendency for TCM utilization increased as follow-up time increased after controlling for potential confounders, while WM utilization decreased as follow-up time increased. Age, economic status, infertility, value of prevention, baby delivery, and obstetric/gynecologic inpatient histories were significantly associated with patients’ medical care-seeking behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: TCM and WM medical care-seeking patterns are significantly different among women with diagnoses associated with menstrual syndromes. Related factors affecting medical care-seeking behavior include age, economic status, infertility, value of prevention, childbirth and Ob/Gyn inpatient histories.