Traditional Chinese medicine for sjögren’s syndrome: a national survey of attitudes and perceptions among Chinese patients and rheumatologists

This study explored similarities and differences among Chinese patients and rheumatologists in their attitudes towards and perceptions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), including analyzing factors that influenced their decision making. An anonymous questionnaire was used to conduct a multicenter survey among patients with SS at three tertiary care medical centers in Beijing and among rheumatology clinicians at several hospitals across China. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. There were 942 valid questionnaires from patients from 31 provinces and cities in China, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 1:14, a mean age of 48.81 years, and a median disease duration of 7 (4, 10) years. There were 320 valid questionnaires from rheumatologists, covering 30 provinces and cities in China, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 0.87:1, a mean age of 48 years, and a median work duration of 10.5 (6, 15) years. The rheumatologists treated a median of 15 (11, 50) SS cases per month, and the median proportion of SS to all rheumatic diseases was 6.66