Perceptions, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices Toward Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapies for Herpes Zoster: A Cross-Sectional Study of Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Introduction

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) holds great potential in promoting healing and relieving pain for herpes zoster (HZ) treatments. Evidence showed that both healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) belief and knowledge influence their attitudes, which result in their expression and direct behavior. However, little is known in this area regarding TCM treatments for HZ. This study aimed to understand the HCPs’ perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and practices toward TCM and its services for HZ.

Methods

During July 2021 and October 2022, a cross-sectional study of HCPs querying demographics, perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and practices toward TCM and TCM services for HZ was conducted. The frequency and percentage or mean and standard deviation were used to present categorical data and continuous data, respectively. A Chi-square analysis compared nurses’ and doctors’ views on TCM treatments for HZ.

Results

Out of 306 eligible respondents, 66.0% used TCM content in clinical practice less than 40% of the time. Respondents reported that there were three main advantages of TCM for HZ, including better crusting and healing, fewer side effects, and mitigating complications. A total of 41.3% (81/196) of the respondents who had cared for/treated HZ patients applied TCM treatments. The three factors most associated with referrals/providing TCM to patients were postherpetic neuralgia, early erythema or papules, and acute pain. Compared to nurses, doctors showed more endorsement of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of TCM treatments for HZ patients.

Conclusion

The study found that most healthcare professionals in HZ had a favorable view of TCM, but lacked practical experience administering it to patients. Programs should be developed to provide evidence-based TCM treatments and encourage combining TCM with Western medicine for better patient care.

Keywords:

• Herpes Zoster
• Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Perception
• Attitude
• Healthcare Professionals

Data Sharing Statement

The data will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Ethics Statement

The research was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (ID: SYSEC-KY-KS-2021-183) and registered with the Chinese Register for Clinical Studies (ID: ChiCTR2100050476).

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Associate Professor Xia Wei from the School of Nursing, Sun Yat-sen University for her continuous support and instructive comments on the manuscript writing.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or all these areas; took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Guangzhou Basic Research Program Basic and Applied Basic Research Projects-General Projects (grant number 202201011311), Youth Talent Support Programme of Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology (grant number SKXRC202314), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Sun Yat-sen University (grant number 23qnpy111).