Association of Chinese Herbal Medicines Use with Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Authors

Miao-Chiu Lin, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical FoundationFollow
Hanoch Livneh, Portland State UniversityFollow
Wei-Jen Chen, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical FoundationFollow
Ning-Sheng Lai, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical FoundationFollow
Ming-Chi Lu, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical FoundationFollow
Tzung-Yi Tsai, National Cheng Kung UniversityFollow

Published In

International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Subjects

Alternative treatment Medicine -- Clinical trials

Abstract

Purpose: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients appear to report a higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While Chinese herbal medicine (CHMs) is proven to lower COPD risk, the scientific evidence regarding its effect in relation to COPD onset among them is limited. This longitudinal cohort study aimed to determine the relationship between CHMs use and the COPD risk in RA patients.

Methods: Using the nationwide claim data, 8349 patients newly diagnosed with RA and simultaneously free of COPD between 1998 and 2010 were eligible for enrollment. From this sample, we enrolled 3360 CHMs users and 3360 non-CHMs users, randomly selected using propensity scores matching from the remaining cases. They were followed until the end of 2012 to record COPD incidence. The hazard ratio (HR) of COPD with regard to CHMs use was estimated by the Cox proportional hazards regression model.

Results: In the follow-up period, 136 CHMs users and 202 non-CHMs users developed COPD, representing incidence rates of 5.16 and 7.66, respectively, per 1000 person-years. CHMs use was associated with a 32% lower subsequent risk of COPD (adjusted HR: 0.68, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.54–0.84). Eight commonly prescribed CHMs were discovered to be associated with lower COPD risk: Yan Hu Suo, Sānɡ Zhī, Dang Shen, Huang Qin, Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San, Shu-Jing-Huo-Xue-Tang, Du-Huo-Ji-Sheng-Tang and Ge-Gen-Tang.

Conclusion: A significant association of CHMs use with a lower risk of COPD onset in RA patients was found, suggesting that CHMs could be integrated into conventional therapy to reduce COPD risk.

Rights

© 2020 Lin et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S233441

DOI

10.2147/COPD.S233441

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/32828

Citation Details

Lin, M. C., Livneh, H., Chen, W. J., Lai, N. S., Lu, M. C., & Tsai, T. Y. (2020). Association of Chinese Herbal Medicines Use with Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-Based Cohort Study. International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 15, 691.