• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.90-102
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• 2002

Purpose: Home health nurses could affect patients' choice of alternative therapy. This study was carried out to investigate home health nurses' attitudes and cognition toward alternative therapy. Method: The subjects were 92 nurses who preparing the home health nurses at 2 university in Seoul and Suwon. Using the questionnaire. we measured the subjects' attitudes and cognition toward alternative therapy. Result: The mean score of attitudes about application was 3.14. and the score of attitudes about therapeutic effect was 2.57. The score of attitudes about therapeutic effect were significantly positive correlation to the score of cognition about alternative therapy. The attitudes about therapeutic effect were different significantly according to number of working years. But they commonly wanted to apply the soojichim. aroma-therapy. massage. danjon breathing. music therapy. plant therapy. and foot reflexology to their home health care subjects. Conclusion: Alternative therapies became a popular source of health care in Korea. This study showed pre-home health nurses had positive attitudes toward alternative therapies and they had wide variations of knowledge in how to use each therapy. But they acknowledge the value of alternative therapies as useful nursing interventions. so we all nurses should pay attention to develope the nursing intervention using alternative therapy.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.193-201
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the use pattern of alternative therapies in middle aged women. Method: The subjects of this study were 530 women from 40 to 64 years of age. The data of this study was patients' records. The data was gathered from April 1st, 2004 to June 30th, 2004. Data was analyzed statistically by using the SPSS/WIN 10.0 program. Result: It was shown that 63.5% of the subjects have utilized one or more types of alternative therapy. The most common type of alternative therapy was dietary and nutritional therapy 38.3%, and the place of use was the home 64.1%. The most common reason was a recommendation by friends. The degree of satisfaction after the use of alternative therapy was 95.2%. Among users of alternative therapies, the most frequent responses to each question were as follows; Motive of Use- "for health maintenance and promotion." (62.7%) In the relation ship between general characteristics and utilization of alternative therapy, religion(x2=12.33, p=.02), exercise(x2=8.21, p=.004), and health status(x2=14.95, p=.005) showed a significant statistical difference. Conclusion: We found that middle aged women used alternative therapies more frequently than other populations. Therefore, it is suggested that medical doctors or nurses verify the true effects or side-effects from the most therapies or nurses verify the true effects or side-effects from the most common complementary or alternative therapies through experiments.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the using pattern of alternative therapies in the elderly. Method: 197 subjects, persons who were more than 60 years old, we interviewed. We modified and complemented Shin's(2000) instrument in accordance with purpose of this study. Data were analyzed statistically by using SAS program. Result: 1. It was shown that 66.84% of subjects have utilized one or more types of alternative therapy. 2. It was shown that the most frequently used types are acupuncture (48.83%), and ethmoid bone therapy (42.75%). 3. Acupuncture was shown to be the most satisfactory type of therapy (14.50%). 4. There was a significant difference in the use ratio by sex; female 73.47% and male 60.20%. 5. Among users of alternative therapies, the most frequent responses to each question were as follows; 1. Motive of Use - "for complete cure of symptoms" (32.31%). 2. Side effects - "no side effects" (95.97%). Conclusion: We found that elderly persons used alternative therapies more frequently than others perpulations. Diet therapy and Hand therapy were most commonly used in older people. Although the elderly use alternative therapy, they cannot place confidence in its scientific reliability. Therefore, we need to examine the effects of alternative therapy.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.399-411
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• 2002

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the application of complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) in patients with chronic liver disease. and to analyze the Influence of health locus of control (HLOC) on CAT. Method: Questionnaires on CAT and a multidimensional health locus of control (MHLOC) scale developed by Wallston and Wallston were completed by 141 patients. Result: Analysis showed that 44.7% of the patients had experience with CAT and 49.2% of the patients reported being willing to use CAT. Reliability scores for the scale were HLOC-I 0.7376, HLOC-P 0.6383, HLOC-C 0.7351. The mean scores for the HLOC were HLOC-I 24.86, HLOC-P 22.86, HLOC-C 16.00. There were no significant differences in mean scores for HLOC between the patients who had used CAT and those who had not. Eight response Patterns for HLOC were identified. Among them, 'yea sayer' was the largest group (27.0%). A significant difference was found in the 'yea sayer' pattern between the group who had used CAT and the group who had not. Conclusion: CAT relates to various cognitive factors such as HLOC. Further study is needed to examine the influence of HLOC on CAT and its response patterns.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.162-169
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• 1999

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine among 1,490 residents(339 households) in Suwon city. Methods: All respondents were asked about types, frequency, effects, side-effects, views, and cost of complementary or alternative medicine through a questionnaire from July 24th to 27th. Six therapies were investigated: diet; acupuncture/ massage/ chiropractic etc., mind control such as Ki/ Yoga/ spiritual therapy/ relaxation therapy etc.; nutritional supplements, cultural remedies; and Herb medications Results: The results of this survey were as follows: 35.6% of respondents had experiences with at least one or more types of complementary and alternative medicine. The average number of different types of therapies used was 3.4. More experience with various types of therapies were found among those respondents of higher education, older age group, higher income, married group, religious group than among the opposite groups of respondents. Herb medications were used most frequently(39.8%), followed by minor grains(37.9%), Ginseng(23.8%), Boshintang(21.5%), acupuncture(20.3%), Gaesojou(15.3%) Gingko nut(12.0%), mushroom(11.5%), Cupping therapy(10.2%), and black goat(0.0%). Acupuncture and Herb medications were used for treatment of hypertension the most frequently; minor grains or silkworm for treatment of diabetic mellitus; vegetables for treatment of obesity; acupuncture, Cupping Therapy, Herb medications for treatment of rheumatism; and acupuncture, Herb medications, or exercises for treatment of Cerebro Vascular Accident(CVA). The average costs of treatment were 108,000 Won for hypertension, 87,200 Won for diabetic mellitus, 16,800 Won for obesity, 68,800 Won for rheumatism, and 87,500 Won for CVA. Among 10.9% of respondents, there were 13 cases of side-effects with acupuncture, Herb medications, and Gaesojou. Among the cases of side-effects, majority was due to Herb medications. Respondents reported that Cupping Therapy was the most effective, followed by acupuncture, Ginseng, Gingko nut, Boshintang, black goat, minor grains, Gaesojou, Herb medications, vegetables, and mushroom. In response to the views of complementary and alternative medicine which they had used, they recommended minor grains first, followed by Ginseng, acupuncture, Gingko nut, Cupping Therapy, vegetables, Boshintang, black goat, mushroom and Herb medications. In contrast, they did not recommend Herb medications, acupuncture, nor Gaesojou. Conclusions: These findings indicate that many people use various complementary and alternative medicine without any guidelines for treatment of serious chronic diseases not even to invigorate themselves. It is, therefore, suggested that medical doctors or scientists verify the true effects or side-effects from the most common complementary or alternative therapies through experiments. Also medical doctors should provide a comfortable atmosphere for discussion among doctors and patients who would like to try these therapies.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.240-260
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• 2006

Purpose : The objective of this study is to serve guidelines for the investigation and management of uterine myomas with KM therapies. Methods : English-language articles from PubMed and Korean-language articles from the database of the journal of oriental gynecology were reviewed from 2000 to 2005, using the key words 'uterine myoma', 'uterine leiomyoma', 'fibroid', 'uterine artery embolization', 'endometrial ablation', 'myomectomy', and jagungguenjong(子宮筋腫)'. Results and Limits : The areas of clinical practices considered in formulating this guideline are assessment, KM therapies, medical treatments, myolysis, selective artery occlusion, endometrial ablation and surgical therapies including myomectomy and hysterectomy. Implementation of this guideline would optimize the decision-making process of women with uterine myomas and further investigation or therapy of their KM doctors. But we don't have abundant evidences of clinical trials of uterine myoma treated with KM therapy, though we treat or manage that with every-day clinical practices. Moreover cultural gaps between Korea and other western countries make many differences in the attitude to surgical therapies, especially hysterectomy. So it is very difficult to compare W therapies with other therapies. Moreover it is much difficult to estimate cost-effectiveness and benefit of those therapies in QOL. Conclusions : The majority of uterine myoma is asymptomatic and will not require any intervention or further investigation. But unmarried women who wish to marry and get pregnant want to find safe therapy for their asymptomatic uterine myomas. In that case, most of the patients prefer non-surgical therapy to surgical therapy. So KM herbal medicinal therapy is a good alternative method for those patients. For the symptomatic myomas, hysterectomy offers a definitive solution. However, it is not the best solution for women who wish to preserve their uterus. So KM therapy is a good alternative for them. But the predicted benefits of alternative therapies including KM therapy must be carefully weighed against the Possible risks of these therapies. To improve the quality of life of both women with asymptomatic and symptomatic myomas, selecting and treating patients should be done carefully. Moreover, the effect of KM therapy has to evaluated, comparing the possible situation without treatment and the benefit of constant treatment as a health-care system.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.25-38
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• 2013

Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyze the utilization behaviour and influencing factors of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies among elderly people with chronic diseases. Methods: The study population was selected among 9 welfare facilities for the aged in 2 cities among Daegu Metropolitan City & Gyeongsangnam Province by two-stage cluster sampling. 250 senior citizens participated in a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between the utilization of CAM therapies and various characteristics of the elderly. All statistics were analyzed using the PASW (ver 18.0). Results: Among 233 elderly peoples, 70.4% (164 persons) had used various kinds of CAM therapies (including nutritional methods, pharmacologic and biologic treatments, etc.) more than once during the last year. 48.8% (64 persons) ~ 60.7% (88 persons) of the elderly used CAM therapies without health and medical experts' counsel. The elderly with perceptions of CAM therapy used it 2 times more than those without knowledge of CAM therapies. The number of chronic diseases was more likely to increase the usage of nutritional methods (OR=2.92, 95% CI: 1.07-7.97), manipulative and body-based practices (OR=5.85, 95% CI: 1.97-17.34), pharmacologic and biologic treatments (OR=2.92, 95% CI: 1.49-8.17). Elderly with diabetes used nutritional methods 3.76 (95% CI: 1.49-9.47) more than elderly without diabetes. Conclusions: CAM therapies use in the aged with chronic diseases appears common. The findings suggest that the clinical efficacy and safety of CAM therapies on medical management of chronic disease may be investigated and that patient-physician communication need to be strengthened.

• CELLMED
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.10.1-10.8
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• 2013

Cancer is one of the major dreaded diseases causing high mortality. Lung cancer is second in position of all cancer related deaths and mainly divided into two morphologic sub-types: small-cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC is an aggressive neoplasm which hardly responds to any conventional chemotherapy. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) belongs to the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinase that is mainly over-expressed in NSCLC. EGFR is mainly involved in the pathogenesis and progression of different carcinoma. In vivo and in vitro studies suggest that EGFR and EGF like peptides are often over-expressed in human NSCLC and these proteins are able to induce cell transformation. The conventional therapies mostly inhibit the EGFR activity and expression level in human NSCLC with the use of some EGFR-inhibitors like HKI-272, EKB569, CL-387785 etc. and some synthetic chemotherapeutic drugs like erlotinib, gefitinib, plumbagin, docetaxel, cisplatin etc., alone or in combination of two or more drugs. These therapies selectively act by competitive inhibition of the binding of adenosine triphosphate to the tyrosine kinase domain of the EGFR, resulting in inhibition of the EGFR signaling pathway. But these chemotherapeutic drugs have some cytotoxic activities to the normal cells and have some adverse side-effects. Recent studies on some traditional alternative therapies including some herbal and plant extracts, active ingredients like curcumin, different homeopathic drugs, etc. can target EGFR-signalling in NSCLC with less toxic side-effects are being currently developed.

• CELLMED
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.25.1-25.4
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• 2014

Neck pain is an extremely common symptom with a variety of potential etiologies. A significant number of patients are turning to complementary and alternative medicine therapies. In particular, chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation techniques are discussed. "Low quality evidence", as per the GRADE system criteria used by the Cochrane Review, supports the beneficial effects of these treatments Complications are generally benign and self-limited although occasional catastrophic consequences have been documented. Medical practitioners should familiarize themselves and their patients with the risks and benefits of complementary and alternative medicine in order to make informed decisions.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the uses of complementary and alternative therapies(CAT), pain, and quality of life(QOL) in patients with chronic back pain. Method: A descriptive survey was conducted using convenient sample. One hundred sixty two patients with chronic back pain participated in this study. Types and satisfaction of CAT, pattern of back pain, and QOL were investigated. Result: 83.3% of all participants reported in the use of CAT. The most common types of CAT used were acupuncture and half-bath. Yoga were the most high satisfaction among the types. The mean score of back pain was 4.12, QOL was 3.10, that was mostly low score. There was no significant difference back pain and QOL between CAT user and nonuser. Correlation with satisfaction of CAT according the most using types were a negative correlation with back pain and a positive correlation with QOL. Conclusion: These result indicate that the mostly patients with back pain feels the satisfaction of CAT use. It is important that provide the obvious information about CAT which can be helpful to patient.