Abstract
Objectives : The purpose of this study is to review the recent research trends of evidence based medicine, especially human randomized controlled trials on acupuncture. Methods : The articles were collected by retrieving the database of Pubmed and Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society. The retrieving period was from October 2003 to September 2008, and the search term was 'acupuncture'. The articles were classified according to their publication journals, countries, publication years, targeted diseases, types of acupuncture and types of control. Results : In total, 558 articles in Pubmed and 35 articles in Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society were searched. The number of articles on acupuncture research has increased with higher rate since 2000, but the Qualitative development has not achieved the same amplitude. Studies in Korea were insufficient both in Qualitative and Quantitative aspects. In countries, China had the most papers, and in targeted diseases, pain diseases were most dominant. In the types of acupuncture, classical acupuncture, and in the types of control, conventional western treatment showed the highest frequency. Conclusions: We need to do many-sided and more high Quality researches on acupuncture. For that, well-designed randornized trials are absolutely necessary.