Kampo medicine prescriptions for hospitalized patients in <scp>Tohoku University Hospital</scp>

Abstract

ABSTRACT Aim Traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo medicine; KM) is widely used together with modern medicine in clinical settings. However, KM prescription trends during hospitalization has never been reported for Japanese university hospitals. This study aimed to investigate the KM prescription trends for hospitalized patients at a university hospital in Japan. The present study was conducted in a ‘Problem‐based Learning’ workshop in a second‐grade class at the Tohoku University School of Medicine. Methods Using the drug prescription data of Tohoku University Hospital between October 2017 and September 2018, we identified hospitalized patients who were prescribed KM, which included 17 formulations. We investigated the prescription trends, sex, and age distribution of patients, and diseases for which KMs were prescribed. Results Of the 19 249 patients, 1229 patients (6.4%) were newly prescribed KM during admission. The average age was 60.2 ± 18.8 years, and female patients accounted for 51.4%. The most prescribed KM was daikenchuto (485 patients), mainly for post‐operative patients in the surgical departments and psychosomatic patients with gastrointestinal symptoms in the psychiatric departments. Yokukansan was used for dementia patients in the geriatric medicine department and for delirium patients in the intensive care unit. Rikkunshito was administered to patients after gastric cancer surgery and to patients with anorexia nervosa. Daikenchuto and shakuyakukanzoto were more frequently prescribed to men, and goreisan and goshajinkigan were more frequently prescribed to women. Conclusion Kampo Medicines were prescribed for specific diseases or conditions at various inpatient departments in the university hospital.