The management of childhood asthma: Using combined traditional Chinese medicine treatments

Objective To evaluate a Taiwan government-sponsored Project of Outpatients’ Healthcare Quality Improvement (POHQI) with combined traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for childhood asthma. Materials and Methods An observational study was conducted among 190 asthmatic children from six multi-hospitals who joined a government-sponsored POHQI program of combined TCM therapy. Combined TCM therapy included orally-administered herbal medication, acupuncture, massage, herbal ointment and weekly music therapy. The serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE), Short Form-36 (SF-36), asthma control test (ACT), and pulmonary function test (PFT) were evaluated before and 3 months after the therapy. Results Emergency visits and hospitalizations after treatment reduced from 0.27 to 0.03 per person per year. Mean serum IgE reduced from 834.7 ± 22.51 to 547.4 ± 18.36 IU/mL (p < 0.05). Mean SF-36 score reduced from 81.0 ± 8.84 to 49.4 ± 6.43 (p < 0.05). Mean ACT score increased from 15.0 ± 4.2 to 21.8 ± 1.8 (p < 0.05). Mean peak expiratory flow of PFT increased from 218.67 ± 69.12 to 250 ± 64.86 L/min (p < 0.05). Conclusions Results suggest that the POHQI program in conjunction with combined TCM treatment was found to be effective in improving outcomes for serum IgE, SF-36, ACT and PFT in childhood asthma. Further research is required to confirm the results.