Use of Acupuncture Among Patients with Prostate Cancer Covered by National Health Insurance in Taiwan: A Retrospective Population-Based Study

Background: National Health Insurance (NHI) covers acupuncture in Taiwan. Objective: To explore the prevalence and characteristics of acupuncture use among patients with prostate cancer who are covered under NHI. Design, Setting, and Participants: A retrospective study was conducted using a representative NHI database. A total of 2413 patients with prostate cancer who used ambulatory services during 2002-2008 were identified. Intervention: Claims of these patients with prostate cancer were analyzed. Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence of acupuncture use. Results: The prevalence of acupuncture use was 7.8%, 8.7%, 7.5%, 7.7%, 8.1%, 8.0%, and 8.6% in each cross-sectional year during 2002-2008, respectively. Overall, 353 patients (14.6%) had used acupuncture, with 2179 visits (average 6.2 visits per user). More than half of acupuncture users (56.1%) had <3 visits for acupuncture; 10.2% had more than 12 visits. Most patients received acupuncture at private clinics (72.6%). The most frequent principal diagnosis by visits was "musculoskeletal diseases'' (51.2%), followed by "injury'' (29.1%), "diseases of the circulatory system'' (9.2%), and "neoplasms'' (4.3%). Conclusions: A certain portion of patients with prostate cancer used acupuncture with NHI coverage in Taiwan. Acute and chronic diseases were the most commonly treated conditions other than prostate cancer.