Predicting Traditional Chinese Medicine's Use and the Marginalization of Medical Care in Hong Kong

Abstract

The study examined the importance of socio-demographic factors, health conditions, health beliefs and health seeking behaviors in predicting the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong. A sample of 4,339 respondents was randomly selected and interviewed. Among the 1,651 respondents who had consulted a doctor in the three months prior to the survey, 8.6% consulted a TCM doctor. Besides, 13.5% of the entire sample reported that they had been using TCM drugs frequently or occasionally. Socio-demographic factors, health conditions, health beliefs and health seeking behaviors were all found predictive of the use of TCM. In particular, those who were older, female, new immigrants, unemployed, retired, had chronic disease such as rheumatism, bronchitis, asthma, and those taking non-prescribed medication and not seeking treatment when falling ill were more likely to use TCM. Perceived difficulty in obtaining medical services and high medical cost also predicted TCM use. In sum, the findings suggest that TCM users are likely to be those who have been marginalized in obtaining medical care.