Abstract
Objective: This study was performed to compare knowledge of and expectations for traditional medicine between Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese, to figure out whether these factors influence the intention to use traditional medical treatment in the future. Methods: One-hundred ninety-nine Korean, eighty-five Chinese, and one-hundred seventy-four Taiwanese subjects responded to the survey. A one-way ANOVA was performed to compare experiences of traditional medical treatment, knowledge of both traditional medicine and western medicine, expectations for traditional medicine, and future intention to use traditional medical treatment. Multiple regression analyses were also performed to evaluate a possible correlation between the other factors and the intention to use traditional medical treatment in the future. Results: The experiences of traditional medical treatment were in the order of Taiwanese, Korean, and Chinese, from more frequent to less frequent. Chinese had more knowledge of traditional medicine compared to Taiwanese and Koreans, and the expectations for traditional medicine were in the order of Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese, from higher to lower. The intentions to use traditional medical treatment in the future were in the order of Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese, from more to less. Multiple regression analyses showed that experiences of traditional medical treatment, knowledge of traditional medicine, and expectations for traditional medicine were associated with the intention to use traditional medicine in the future in Korean and Taiwanese, but not in Chinese. Only the expectations for traditional medicine were associated with the future intentions to use traditional medical treatment in Chinese. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Korean and Taiwanese may need to improve their knowledge of traditional medicine whereas Chinese need to link their knowledge of traditional medicine with the intention to use it in the future. Understanding the characteristics of traditional medicine would probably contribute to enhancing the intentions to use it more.
