Background: People seek Chinese medicine (CM) treatments for a variety of respiratory disorders, e.g., asthma and\nupper respiratory tract infection (URTI). No previous studies have reviewed the data available in medical records from\nAustralian clinics. This study aims to identify the characteristics of patients with respiratory disorders who visited a CM\nteaching clinic at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.\nMethods: Primary data from January 2010 to December 2011 were collected from patient records in a CM teaching\nclinic at RMIT University. Patient data, including demographics, primary complaint, clinical history, lifestyle, CM treatment,\nand adverse events, were analyzed with descriptive statistics and the Chi square test using SPSS version 21.0.\nResults: From 1677 clinical records we identified 261 patients with respiratory disorders. The patients made a total\nof 842 visits (mean: 3.2 visits/patient; range: 1ââ?¬â??34 visits) during the study period. The mean age of the patients was\n38.5 Ã?± 17.9 years, and the majority were female (65.5 %). The most common respiratory disorders were URTI (27.8 %),\ncough (20.8 %), hay fever or allergic rhinitis (18.6 %), sinus congestion (11.2 %), and asthma (7.6 %). Acupuncture\nwas given at almost all visits (97.5 %) and was frequently combined with herbs (64.0 %). Fifteen adverse events were\nreported, but none were considered severe.\nConclusion: In the CM teaching clinic, respiratory conditions were a common presenting complaint of patients, and\nwere safely treated with a combination of acupuncture and herbs.
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