• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.224-231
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• 2017

Objectives Several researches have been done to develop instruments or questionnaire for diagnosis of sasang constitution. In this study, we developed a user-friendly web system to enhance the utilization of KS-15. Methods The KS-15 Web application was constructed by considering the responsive web design and easy survey answer. This system is designed only to authorized users for security purposes, and provides two modes, simple mode and expert mode, depending on the purpose of using the system. A simple mode do not keep user information and survey answer in the database. An expert mode support management of patients, diagnosis of sasang constitution and statistical functions. Results & Conclusions The developed KS-15 system can be operated from any smart device's web browser. In order to use information in clinic field, it was developed so that it can be accessed only by authorized users. It can be divided into an account which can use only simple mode and an account which can use expert mode by using a difference in access authority. These functions can enhance the applicability of sasang constitution in real life such as clinical or education.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.44-53
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• 2023

Objectives : This study was conducted to reveal the relationship between multiple factors of traditional Korean Medicine diagnosis and consider the further probabilities of treating people with physical and mental problems not defined as diseases, which is called 'Mibyeong' in traditional Korean Medicine. Methods : 40 healthy participants were included in the observational clinical trial. The participants were asked to complete health questionnaires (e.g. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Stress Response Inventory) and they went through a traditional diagnosis process, including four stages of diagnosis (looking, listening/smelling, inquiring, and pulse taking), by a Korean Medicine doctor. Both the Korean Medicine doctor and an artery tonometry device performed the pulse diagnosis. Results : Although all participants were healthy people with no history of disease, more than half of participants had a problem related with severe level of fatigue (n=19), sleep disturbance (n=26) and stress (n=27) status according to the related questionnaires. Participants diagnosed with phlegm syndrome by the Korean Medicine doctor showed significantly greater score in phlegm pattern questionnaires than participants who were not. However, there was little agreement between the doctor's pulse diagnosis and radial artery tonometry results. Conclusions : We conducted a pulse diagnosis and measured health-related information along with the traditional Korean Medicine diagnose procedure, including four stages of diagnosis, and we found a linkage between diagnosis of phlegm and the phlegm pattern questionnaire score. The results suggest that a number of healthy participants, with no disease diagnosed, have Mibyoung symptoms which need further clinical management. Thus, we suggest that Mibyoung management programs based on qualified diagnosis tools and traditional Korean medicine diagnosis procedures be developed, and that future research using various diagnostic tools be carried out on a large population.

• Integrative Medicine Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 2018

Background: Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular disease and associated mortality, and postmenopausal women are at a high risk of hypertension. We aim to investigate the hypotensive effect and safety of acupuncture, focusing on postmenopausal women with prehypertension and stage 1 hypertension. In addition, we aim to investigate whether the effect of acupuncture treatment differed, depending on Sasang Constitution and cold-heat pattern. Methods: This study is designed as an intervention cohort study. Two hundred postmenopausal women aged <65 years with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension living in Daejeon city in Korea will be recruited, and randomly assigned to either an acupuncture or no-treatment control group. The intervention will consist of four sessions; one session will include acupuncture performed 10 times for 4 weeks. There will be a 20-week observation period after each session, and the total study duration will be 96 weeks. Acupuncture will be applied at the bilateral Fengchi (GB20), Quchi (LI11), Zusanli (ST36), and Sameumgyo (SP6) acupoints. The effect of acupuncture will be evaluated by comparing the change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure between the acupuncture and control groups every 4 weeks until the end of the study. Discussion: To evaluate the success of blood pressure management, long-term observation is required, but no long-term studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on blood pressure in postmenopausal women. To our knowledge, this study will be the first long-term study to investigate this issue for more than 6-8 weeks.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2019

Objectives: Eating self-efficacy is an important predictor of successful weight control behaviors during obesity treatment. The Weight Efficacy Life-Style Questionnaire (WEL) is an internationally used measure of eating self-efficacy. The objective of this study was to develop the Korean version of WEL (K-WEL) and verify face validity. Methods: According to previously published guidelines, the cross-cultural translation was conducted through organizing the expert committee, translation, back-translation, synthesis, grammar review, and final synthesis. Following the translation of the WEL into Korean, face validity was performed for 35 subjects. Results: After all the versions of the questionnaire were examined, the translated WEL questionnaires were finally synthesized and licensed by the developer in writing. Regarding the translated WEL questionnaires, seven out of 35 subjects (20%) offered ideas about ambiguous expressions in them. All four points indicated in the face validity verification were additionally modified for greater clarity and understanding. Conclusions: We developed the Korean version of WEL and completed face validity. In future research, it would be necessary to provide further study on the reliability and validity of the Korean version of WEL.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.22-31
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between sleep status and weight loss among adult women with obesity administered with Gamitaeeumjowee-tang. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 137 patients who were were administered with Gamitaeeumjowee-tang for 3 months for the purpose of weight loss. We divided subjects according to sleep duration and sleep quality. We conducted an independent t-test to compare the differences of weight loss between two groups. Also, a regression analysis was applied to determine which factors affected weight loss. Results: There was no significant difference in weight loss between patients who sleep more than 7 hours regularly and patients who sleep less than 7 hours. There was no significant difference between good sleepers and poor sleepers. Initial body mass index and the number of visits to the clinic were the significant factors in weight loss in 2-4 weeks. Initial weight loss was the significant factor in weight loss in 10-12 weeks. There was no significant correlation of sleep duration and sleep quality in weight loss in 2-4 weeks and 10-12 weeks. Conclusions: This study suggests that weight loss may not be affected by sleep status during Gamitaeeumjowee-tang intervention. ostachys japonicus, THP-1, acute myeloid leukemia, apoptosis, autophagy.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.372-380
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to seek ways to improve the quality of life of workers by separating workers into the low fatigue group and the severe fatigue group depending on the level of fatigue level, and analyzing and understanding the difference between quality of life and job stress according to the fatigue level. Methods: For the 'Development of Mibyeong management system which was a consumer-directed health care service', the data of job stress, fatigue and quality of life was collected from 115 workers who visited the oriental hospitals located in J city and C city from Jul, 2012 to Dec, 2012. Results: The severe fatigue group showed significantly higher job stress than the low fatigue group in physical environment (p=.004), job demand (p<.001), interpersonal conflict (p=.012), lack of reward (p=.062). The severe fatigue group showed lower degrees both in physical component summary (PCS) (p<.001) and mental component summary (MCS) (p<.001) measured by SF-12 and the quality of life (p<.001) measured by EQ5D than the lower fatigue group. A relatively strong negative correlation was found in the item of mental component summary (MCS) measured by SF-12. Conclusion: Considering our results that high fatigue level show negative impact on quality of life and job stress, we suggest to provide a variety of health promotion strategies to improve the quality of life through the prevention and relief of fatigue for workers.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.42-55
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• 2019

Objectives: Acceptability of patients towards obesity treatment program is associated with better weight loss outcomes. The purpose of this study was to review previously published study results of the predictive factors associated with patients' acceptability in obesity treatment. Methods: Authors searched for the articles related to acceptability reported as continuation, attendance and adherence, published from 2011 to 2018 found on Pubmed, Scopus, Research Information Sharing Service, and Koreanstudies Information Service System. A total of 23 articles were finally selected. From the study results, unchangeable and changeable predictors were extracted, and these predictors were examined according to detail categories. Results: Regarding the continuation of the treatment, unchangeable factors such as younger age, lower educational level, male sexuality and lower accessibility to physical activity predicted lower continuation. Furthermore, changeable factors such as early and half weight loss, better accessibility to the treatment and financial incentives for retention predicted higher continuation rate. Greater degree of attendance was predicted by unchangeable factors such as economical affordability, and changeable predictors such as half weight loss and proximity to the clinic. Main factors of adherence to the recommendation were unchangeable predictors such as weight loss experience, and changeable predictors such as more physical activity and appropriate dietary habits. Negative psychological state predicted lower continuation, attendance and adherence rate. Conclusions: Our review results suggest that unchangeable and changeable predictors of acceptability of patients should be carefully examined during treatments of obesity.