Trends in the Use of Oriental Medical Care Service and Treatment Satisfaction

지역주민의 한방의료 이용성향과 진료만족도

The purpose of this study was to identify a tendency in patients who seek oriental medical service and factors influencing patient satisfaction. The study was conducted with 1,520 residents of a community during the period from February 5, 2005 through June 30, 2005 using a questionnaire. This study results are summarized as follows : 1. Of subjects who sought oriental medical service, 66.2% had musculoskeletal disorder and connective tissue disease, 18.9% had digestive tract disease, 16.4% had respiratory disease, 8.2% had endocrinemetabolic disease, 7.5% had circulatory disease and the remaining subjects had other diseases(p<0.001). 2. Of subjects who sought oriental medical service for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorder, 84.9% preferred acupuncture. Of those who had digestive tract diseases, 47.0% preferred packaged herbal medicine. Of those who had respiratory disease, 63.0% preferred packaged herbal medicine. 3. Acupuncture was the most often sought by subjects with musculoskeletal disorder. Packaged herbal medicine was sought by subjects with respiratory disease, digestive tract disease, endocrine-metabolic disease or circulatory disease. Tablet-type herbal medicine was sought by subjects with musculoskeletal disorder or digestive tract disease. Combined therapy was sought by subjects with musculoskeletal disorder, digestive tract disease, hematopoietic disease or immune disorder. 4. The level of satisfaction with oriental medical service was higher in subjects with circulatory disease, subjects with digestive tract disease, subjects with neurological disorder and subjects with musculoskeletal disorder in descending order. Of total subjects, 39.4% experienced side effects of oriental medical care, 38.1% experienced side effects of herbal medicine. About 51.9% considered the price of herbal medicine costly while 23.2% considered it reasonable. 5. Subjects' knowledge of herbal medicine was measured as $29.2{\pm}3.83$ out of 42 scores or 69 out of 100 points, indicating a low knowledge level. Subjects' knowledge was influenced by occupation, religion, side effects, sex, age, residence area, the type of insurance. These variables explained 15.2% of the variance. 7. Of total subjects, 56.8% were satisfied with oriental medical service. Patient satisfaction varied with occupation, religion, the type of insurance, health state and treatment outcomes. These variables explained 37.3% of the variance. Conclusion : The majority of subjects were satisfied with oriental medical service. However, oriental medical care are not widely used to treat all kinds of diseases while its use skews to a small categories of diseases. It is therefore necessary for the government and oriental medical service providers to develop new therapy approaches for the treatment of a broader range of diseases.