誰在看中醫？香港中醫就診趨勢回顧（1993-2015）

回顧香港亞太研究所分別於 1993 年、2004 年以及 2015年關於香港中醫求診情況的三個研究，我們可以初步了解中醫在經歷了約二十年專業化發展後的現狀：2004 年和 2015 年的調查結果顯示，市民對中醫的信任持續增加，中醫求診率在1993 年和 2004 年間有明顯增長。這兩個趨勢顯示了回歸後，中醫註冊及中醫藥的監管成效。但在 2015 年的中醫求診率和2004 年相近，求診率保持穩定，顯示了人們在求診時的實際選擇和對特定醫療的信心並不對應，造成這種不一致的因素包括醫療市場的結構以及人們的社會經濟水平。公營醫療系統並沒有提供中醫診療，人們只能向私營的中醫師求診。專業化也使得中醫私人市場服務的診療收費越來越高。
In this paper, we review three longitudinal surveys on the utilization of Chinese medicine (CM) in Hong Kong in 1993, 2004 and 2015, disclosing the development of CM utilization in the last 20 or so years. The result in 2004 and 2015 showed that Hong Kong citizens developed growing confidence towards CM. A significant growth in the utilization rate is also found between 1993 and 2004. These two trends suggest that the efficacy of the policies on CM registration and regulation in the early post-handover period. Nevertheless, the utilization rate of CM in 2015 was similar to that in 2004, and the leveling off in utilization reveals the loose correspondence between the actual choice of doctor consultation and one’s confidence level towards a particular mode of medicines. The factors causing this inconsistency could be the structure of CM medical market in Hong Kong and the socioeconomic conditions of users. The public health care sector does not provide CM service. People can only consult private CM practitioners. Meanwhile, the consultation fees of private CM practitioners have been increasing due to the professionalization of CM. Copyright © 2018 The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK).