A survey of Chinese public knowledge about Traditional Chinese Medicine
10.3969/j.issn.1006-2157.2015.06.011
- VernacularTitle:我国居民中医药科普知识认知情况调查研究?
- Author:
Si-Qun XU
1
;
Qi JIN
;
Hui WANG
;
Zi LI
;
Xiang JIANG
;
Mei LYU
;
Wei TAN
Author Information
1. 北京中医药大学 北京100029
- Keywords:
Chinese residents;
TCM general education;
knowledge
- From:
Journal of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2015;(6):413-419
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To understand Chinese public knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM) and offer references for general education approaches. Methods Based on government guideline and pre-vious research, a questionnaire was designed and distributed randomly among Chinese residents in the country. Among the 1,800 questionnaires distributed, 1,486 was returned with 1,050 valid ones identified. The questionnaire consisted of seven demographic items including gender and ages;it also included seven-teen items of general TCM knowledge such as the nature of TCM discipline, advantages of TCM, and com-mon sense of health care in TCM. SPSS 20. 0 software was used to analyze the data obtained. Mean and standard deviation ( SD) was calculated for normal distribution and the homogeneity of variance test. One-
way ANOVA analysis was used to compare differences between groups. LSD test was conducted for homoge-neous variance and Tamhance’ T2 test for heterogeneous results. Results Chinese public knowledge about TCM was overall limited. Average score (x)of all 17 questions was 2. 07 (SD=0. 53). The best known item was precautions for decoction administration(x=2. 47)while the worst known one was about theory of five phases(x=1. 78). Comparison among groups indicated that students knew the most about TCM when compared with peasants(P <0. 001,Δaverage =6. 125); Difference was the most significant be-tween groups of different incomes (5 000-999 RMB/month vs. 1 000-4 999 RMB/month, P<0. 001,Δaverage=2. 870). Health status over the past year influenced the public’s knowledge as there was a significant difference between“I have been feeling better” and“I have been feeling worse” groups ( P<0. 001,Δaverage=7. 058) Conclusions Chinese public knowledge about TCM was generally limited. General education is in urgent need to provide systematic training to help the public know more about TCM philosophy and basic theories. Educators need to work from the grass to promote public’ s health care and benefit social awareness. The quantitative assessment of TCM general education also merits im-provement. This study proves to be a positive innovation.
