Comparative attitudes between the traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine towards myofascial pain syndrome treatment among Thai people

Abstract

Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is muscle pain in areas of trigger points hidden within muscles throughout the body. It can be treated through various medical approaches. This study aims to explore and compare Thai people’s attitudes toward the treatment of MPS using traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, in order to support the development of more effective traditional Chinese medicine treatment guidelines in Thailand. Online questionnaire data were collected using a snowball sampling approach, resulting in a sample of 188 Thai people and performing descriptive statistics found that the sample group chose the TCM treatment approach the most for pain treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention, respectively. While choosing the western medical treatment approach for prevention, treatment of common symptoms e.g., cold and fever, and aching treatment the most, respectively. In addition, the comparison of attitudes using t-test revealed that attitudes towards the MPS treatment by Western medicine and TCM were not significantly different. However, the item analysis of the questionnaire revealed that the sample group had a more positive attitude towards Western medicine than TCM in the issue related to treatment duration with a statistical significance of 0.05, while they had a more positive attitude towards TCM than Western medicine when considering the issue of safety with a statistical significance of 0.01.