Chinese herbal medicine decreases incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in diabetes mellitus patients with regular insulin management

Table 1 Baseline characteristics and comorbidities for herb nonusers and herb users in diabetes mellitus patients with regular insulin management in Taiwan between 2000 and 2017

Variables	DM patients with regular insulin use				SMD
	Herb non-users, n = 140547		Herb users, n = 46849
	n	%	n	%
Sex					0.014
Female	71872	51.14	24288	51.84
Male	68675	48.86	22561	48.16
Age, yr
20-40	11623	8.27	4160	8.88	0.022
40-60	55239	39.30	18684	39.88	0.012
> 60	73685	52.43	24005	51.24	0.024
Mean (SD)	59.47 (13.25)		59.11 (13.38)		0.027
Comorbidities
Hypertension	107255	76.31	35223	75.18	0.026
Coronary heart disease	60016	42.70	19862	42.40	0.006
Ischemic stroke	32117	22.85	10366	22.13	0.017
Hemorrhagic stroke	3418	2.43	1146	2.45	0.001
Hyperlipidemia	114028	81.13	37707	80.49	0.016
Renal insufficiency	24394	17.36	7823	16.70	0.018
Cirrhosis	4952	3.52	1847	3.94	0.022
Alcoholic liver damage	10313	7.34	3386	7.23	0.004
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease	12398	8.82	4178	8.92	0.003
HBV infection	9560	6.80	3472	7.41	0.024
HCV infection	5770	4.11	2107	4.50	0.019
Medication
Lipid-lowering drug
Statin	8217	5.85	2766	5.90	0.003
Non-statin	13990	9.95	4299	9.18	0.026
Aspirin	4890	3.48	1559	3.33	0.008
HBV treatment	1947	1.39	696	1.49	0.008
HCV treatment	451	0.32	192	0.41	0.015
OAD
Biguanides	9142	6.50	3054	6.52	0.001
Sulfonamide	8855	6.30	2914	6.22	0.003
AGI	22759	16.19	7829	16.71	0.014
Thiazolidinediones	20022	14.25	7325	15.64	0.039
DPP4 inhibitors	14313	10.18	5648	12.06	0.060
GLP-1 receptor agonist	2982	2.12	1359	2.90	0.050
SGLT2 inhibitors	8376	5.96	3639	7.77	0.072
Glinide	25298	18.00	8886	18.97	0.025
Insulin dose (mg), mean (SD)	9449.92 (135.59)		8248.88 (115.34)		0.071

AGI: -Glucosidase inhibitors; DPP4: Dipeptidyl peptidase 4; GLP-1: Glucagon-like peptide-1; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis B virus; OAD: Oral antidiabetic agents; DM: Diabetes mellitus; SGLT2: Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2; SMD: Standard mean difference.