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Which Is Safer, Chinese Medicine or Western Medicine? Comparative Analysis Based on Chinese Spontaneous Reporting Database

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Abstract

Objective

To compare the safety differences between Chinese medicine (CM) and Western medicine (WM) based on Chinese Spontaneous Reporting Database (CSRD).

Methods

Reports of adverse events (AEs) caused by CM and WM in the CSRD between 2010 and 2011 were selected. The following assessment indicators were constructed: the proportion of serious AEs (PSE), the average number of AEs (ANA), and the coverage rate of AEs (CRA). Further comparisons were also conducted, including the drugs with the most reported serious AEs, the AEs with the biggest report number, and the 5 serious AEs of interest (including death, anaphylactic shock, coma, dyspnea and abnormal liver function).

Results

The PSE, ANA and CRA of WM were 1.09, 8.23 and 2.35 times higher than those of CM, respectively. The top 10 drugs with the most serious AEs were mainly injections for CM and antibiotics for WM. The AEs with the most reports were rash, pruritus, nausea, dizziness and vomiting for both CM and WM. The proportions of CM and WM in anaphylactic shock and coma were similar. For abnormal liver function and death, the proportions of WM were 5.47 and 3.00 times higher than those of CM, respectively.

Conclusion

Based on CSRD, CM was safer than WM at the average level from the perspective of adverse drug reactions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210003, China

    Jian-xiang Wei

  2. School of Internet of Things, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210003, China

    Zhi-qiang Lu, Guan-zhong Feng & Yun-xia Zhu

Authors
  1. Jian-xiang Wei
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  2. Zhi-qiang Lu
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  4. Yun-xia Zhu
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Contributions

Wei JX conceived of the study. Lu ZQ participated in data processing. Wei JX and Lu ZQ participated in data analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. Feng GZ and Zhu YX were involved in critically revising the manuscript and reviewing experiment results. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jian-xiang Wei.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supported by the Major Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Jiangsu Universities (No. 2020SJZDA102) and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (No. SJCX20_0223)

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Wei, Jx., Lu, Zq., Feng, Gz. et al. Which Is Safer, Chinese Medicine or Western Medicine? Comparative Analysis Based on Chinese Spontaneous Reporting Database. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 138–144 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3340-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3340-7

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