Real-world evidence for herbal medicine benefit in 9728 type 2 diabetes patients-peridonotitis risk and ambulatory care utilization

Table 1 Demographic data and selected comorbidities of the study subjects

Variables	All participants	Nonusers of medicinal herbs, n = 9728	Users of medicinal herbs, n = 9728	P value
Age (year)	54.3 ± 10.4	54.3 ± 10.5	54.3 ± 10.4	0.91
≤ 50	6622 (34.0)	3305 (34.0)	3317 (34.1)	0.86
> 50	12834 (66.0)	6423 (66.0)	6411 (65.9)
Gender				0.97
Female	10893 (56.0)	5445 (56.0)	5448 (56.0)
Male	8563 (44.0)	4283 (44.0)	4280 (44.0)
Monthly income				0.40
Low	7473 (38.4)	3765 (38.7)	3708 (38.1)
Median	11260 (57.9)	5617 (57.7)	5643 (58.0)
High	723 (3.7)	346 (3.6)	377 (3.9)
Residential area				0.12
Urban	10461 (53.8)	5302 (54.5)	5159 (53.0)
Suburban	397 (16.4)	1569 (16.1)	1628 (16.7)
Rural	5798 (29.8)	2857 (29.4)	2941 (30.2)
CCI	3.92 (6.1)	3.91 (5.9)	3.94 (6.2)	0.35

Data were showed as n (%) or mean ± SD. CCI: Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index.

Table 2 Risk of periodontitis for type 2 diabetes subjects with and without adding medicinal herbs

Participants	Event	PY	Incidence	Crude HR (95%CI)	Adjusted HR1 (95%CI)
Nonusers of medicinal herbs	4991	63852.56	78.16	1	1
Users of medicinal herbs	4306	66855.04	64.41	0.80 (0.75-0.84)	0.79 (0.76-0.83)
Group 1 (use for 31-365 days)	3823	56306.79	67.89	0.86 (0.81-0.90)	0.84 (0.80-0.87)
Group 2 (use for 366-730 days)	340	6800.35	50.01	0.64 (0.56-0.70)	0.60 (0.54-0.67)
Group 3 (use more than 730 days)	143	3747.90	38.15	0.49 (0.41-0.57)	0.48 (0.41-0.57)

¹Model adjusted for age, gender, monthly income, residential area and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index.

PY: Person-years; HR: Hazard ratio; 95%CI: 95% confidence interval.

Table 3 Comparisons of frequency and costs of periodontitis-related ambulatory care between two groups from the index date to the end of follow-up

	Users of medicinal herbs	Nonusers of medicinal herbs	P value
Within 1 year after periodontitis
Total visits of ambulatory care	10829	12602	< 0.001
Mean costs for per ambulatory care	55.36	60.66	< 0.001
1-3 years after periodontitis
Total visits of ambulatory care	15137	16810	< 0.001
Mean costs for per ambulatory care	51.92	70.33	< 0.001
3 years or more after periodontitis
Total visits of ambulatory care	19288	30846	< 0.001
Mean costs for per ambulatory care	50.56	107.30	< 0.001

Costs were transformed into USDs according to the exchange rate of 2013.

Table 4 Incidence and periodontitis risk for type 2 diabetes patients with and without medicinal herbs use stratified by sex and age

Variables	Nonusers of medicinal herbs			Users of medicinal herbs			Crude HR (95%CI)	Adjusted HR (95%CI)
	Case	PY	Incidence	Case	PY	Incidence
Sex
Female	2977	34644.4	85.93019	2431	38156.72	63.71	0.73 (0.69-0.77)	0.701 (0.67-0.75)
Male	2014	29208.16	68.95333	1875	28698.32	65.33	0.93 (0.87-0.98)	0.911 (0.86-0.96)
Age (year)
≤ 50	1946	19042.44	102.1928	1652	21676.83	76.21041	0.75 (0.69-0.79)	0.742 (0.69-0.78)
> 50	3045	44810.12	67.9534	2654	45178.21	58.74513	0.86 (0.79-0.88)	0.832 (0.79-0.87)

¹Model adjusted for age, urbanization level, monthly income, medication use and CCI.

²Model adjusted for sex, urbanization level, monthly income, medication use and CCI.

PY: Person-years; HR: Hazard ratio; 95%CI: 95% confidence interval.