Chun Lam|Ho Kee Koon|Vincent Chi?Ho Chung|Yin Ting Cheung
A public survey of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine use during the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong|Chinese University of Hong Kong|Chinese University of Hong Kong|Hong Kong Jockey Club|Chinese University of Hong Kong
background covid19 public actively sought nonpharmacological selfmanagement approaches prevent infection little known use traditional complementary integrative medicine tcim public preventive measures study investigated prevalence patterns tcim use pandemic identified factors associated use among general population hong kong methods online crosssectional survey conducted november december 2020 survey solicited information respondents sociodemographic characteristics risk perception pandemic use tcim pandemic logistic regression analysis conducted determine predictors tcim use results total 632 responses completion rate 881 analyzed tcim used 440 respondents pandemic popular forms tcim vitamins dietary supplements n 160 253 chinese herbal medicine n 122 193 pandemic frequently reported indication strengthening immune system especially vitamins dietary supplements n 142160 888 respondents reported using tcim likely female adjusted odds ratio aor 182 95 confidence interval ci 129259 higher education attainment aor 221 95 ci 139359 olderaged age gt55 years aor 177 95 ci 104302 respondents resided districts moderate high number confirmed covid19 cases aor 160 95 ci 107242 higher level risk perception aor 104 95 ci 101107 also likely use tcim conclusion tcim used commonly hong kong covid19 pandemic vaccination social distancing remain mainstay controlling pandemic professional bodies proactively consider public preferences provide information regarding effectiveness safety tcim covid19 prevention treatment