• 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 Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2015

Objectives : This study was designed to assess the general distribution and clinical effectiveness of Korean medical treatment on lumbar disc herniation. Methods : This is an observational study. 72 patients admitted to Daejeon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine with a diagnosis of herniated intervertebral disc(HIVD) by lumbar-CT of lumbar-MRI were observed from July, 2014 to April, 2015. They were analyzed according to sex, age, the period of disease, causal factors, symptoms on admission, admission day, disc herniation type and treatment efficacy. All patients received a combination of treatments during hospitalization, including acupuncture, Chuna, herbal medicines and physical therapy. A zero to ten numerating rating scale(NRS) assessing pain, Oswestry disability index(ODI) and EuroQol-5 dimension(EQ-5D) was used before and after treatments. Results : Average admission duration was $28.00{\pm}12.85$ days in lumbar disc patients. For lumbar patients, lower back pain NRS decreased from $5.89{\pm}2.00$ to $3.42{\pm}1.87$(p<0.001) and radiating pain from $5.96{\pm}2.12$ to $3.38{\pm}1.83$(p<0.001). ODI decreased from $46.69{\pm}19.25$ to $35.69{\pm}16.67$(p<0.001), and EQ-5D index increased from $0.63{\pm}0.26$ to $0.71{\pm}0.20$(p<0.05) after treatment in lumbar disc patients. Conclusions : Korean medical combination treatment might be effective in reducing pain and improving quality of life for patients with lumbar disc herniation. This study further confirmed the efficacy of Korean medical treatment on HIVD.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.193-199
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• 2018

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate electric moxibustion on patients with back pain caused by road traffic accidents. Methods: This was a retrospective study (n = 112) comparing treatment with Korean medicine combined with electric moxibustion (n = 56), and Korean medicine alone (n = 56). Patient gender, age, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) was recorded for each group at the time of hospital admission. Mean NRS measured weekly, mean ODI and EQ-5D scores were measured 2 weeks post-treatment, and evaluated by paired sample t test. using the Statistical Program for Social Science v. 25.0 for Windows. An independent, two-sample t test was used to test for a significant difference in the decrement of NRS, ODI and increment EQ-5D scores between groups. Results: NRS scores decreased in both groups after 1 week of treatment (electric moxibustion, from $5.13{\pm}0.79$ to $3.86{\pm}0.67$; Korean medicine alone, from $5.18{\pm}0.92$ to $4.30{\pm}0.94$; both p < 0.001). There was a significantly greater reduction in NRS score in the electric moxibustion group ($1.27{\pm}0.59$) than in the Korean medicine alone group ($0.88{\pm}0.61$; p = 0.001). After 2 weeks of treatment, EQ-5D scores increased significantly in the moxibustion group ($0.19{\pm}0.12$) compared with the Korean medicine alone group ($0.13{\pm}0.20$; p = 0.043). After 2 weeks of treatment, NRS and ODI scores decreased in both groups. EQ-5D increased in both groups. Conclusion: We suggest that electric moxibustion treatment may be effective for reducing early-stage back pain in patients with road traffic accident injuries.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.165-178
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• 2020

Objectives This survey study is designed to check the awareness and satisfaction of Korean herbal medicine in patients suffering from acute traffic accidents. Methods From May 1 to 20, 2020, patients who visited the hospital within 7 days after the accident and received prescription of Korean herbal medicine for the first-time symptoms were selected. Survey was conducted 10 days after the first visit to confirm the perception of Korean herbal medicine and expected to be used as a prior study to improve the quality of Korean medicine led by Korean herbal medicine. Results Most patients answered that they were aware of the prescribed Korean herbal medicine's dosage and treatment effects. 65% of the patients said they would like to receive other forms of prescription if possible. Most patients answered that portability is convenient and tastes better than normal. 48% of the respondents said that it was the first to time to take Korean herbal medicine, and 68% said that they were willing to take the Korean herbal medicine later. At the time of the first visit, the health condition assessed using EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) was 46.84, but 10 days after the treatment began, it increased significantly to 61.93. Conclusions The improvement of symptoms and high satisfaction with Korean medicine medical services contributed to the patient's willingness to visit the Korean medicine hospital again and to respond that they were willing to take further medication. EQ-VAS elevation suggests that overall patients' subjective health conditions have improved since treatment.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.321-327
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to find out how the adult's mental health in Korea has an impact on the quality of the life. By using '2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey' data, 4,211 people among 20-year-old to 59-year-old adults were enrolled in this study. Frequency and percentage t-test using the SPSS WIN18.0 Multiple regression analysis was conducted and the results of this study are as follows. First, it is showed that in the 20s and 30s the females are a little more sleep than the males regarding the relationship between sleeping hours and the quality of the life of adult men and women. However, there are no differences between the 40s and 50s groups. Second, it is indicated that adult men are higher than women for the subjective health status when it comes to the subjective health status and the usual perceived stress. Although there are no statistical differences according to the gender in the 40s and the 50s, they have a little stress in general. Third, it is confirmed that only the subjective health status and usual stress perception give an beneficial influence on the quality of adult's life in the adult's mental health variations and the quality of life. In summary, this study was found that the adults in the 20s and 50s could increase their satisfaction of their life if they have more positive thinking and less stress from their life. Therefore, the systematical education and programs to manage the health and stress are required.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.295-309
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• 2006

This study was conducted among 831 industrial workers in Gumi City in Gyung-Sang-Buk Do for the purpose of acquiring knowledge to improve quality of life though industrial workers' oral health promotion. Oral examination and questionnaire surveying were used to evaluate workers' oral health state and subjective health state and analyze their effect on quality of life. 1. The number of workers in the study were 831 in all; there were more males who accounted for 74.6%. 43.7% of the subject were 29 years old, accounting for the largest age group. Their academic backgrounds are 53.6% workers who graduated from high schools or lower educational institutions, and 46.4% workers who graduated from college or higher educational institutions. 80.7% of the subjects replied that their economic state belonged to the middle class. Their job classification indicates that 70.2% were working in production and engineering fields and that the seniority of 55.3% workers was less than 55.3%. 2. The result of evaluating the effects of oral health state on individual well-being and quality of life using OHIP indicates that younger people, singles(p<0.01) than the married, those in worse economic situation and those with shorter seniority(p<0.01) had higher effect of oral health state on quality of life. In addition, those whose health or oral health was not good (p<0.01), those with liked tough texture of food and snacks(p<0.05), those with more frequency of drinking(p<0.01) and those with more smoking tended to have higher effect of oral health state on daily life or quality of life. Besides, OHIP confirmed that oral health state is a measurement tool that can evaluate its effect on individual well-being and quality of life. The suggestion for future studies is to develop Korean style OHIP that can be used conveniently and efficiently by expanding the subject area up to the whole country and validating the samples gained from random sampling.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.114-134
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• 2017

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the changes of women's postpartum symptoms, including their weights, edema index and quality of life (QOL) over the first six weeks after childbirth. Methods: The study participants were 31 postpartum women treated in the Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, at Woo-Suk University Korean Medicine Hospital, from May 20th to August 5th, 2016. In the first 2 weeks of the postpartum period, the main data collection method was to interview each patient and write down all of their complaints, and additionally referring to each participant's PHR (Personal Health Records). At the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th week, the researcher interviewed participants by phone once a week. The participants' weight, edema index (ECW/TBW) and the quality of life (by EQ-VAS) were measured at 1st and 2nd week after childbirth. And, EQ-VAS was assessed once more at the 6th week after childbirth. As a last step, the participants responded to a survey on satisfaction regarding their postpartum care with Korean Medicine. Results: 1. In the 1st one week after childbirth, edema was the most frequent complaint. It was about joint pain of the upper limbs in the 2nd and 3rd weeks, sweating in the 4th week, and joint pain of the upper limbs in the 5th and the 6th weeks. 2. In the 1st two weeks of the postpartum period, the weight of the participants decreased from $66.33{\pm}9.30kg$ to $62.60{\pm}8.92kg$ (p<0.001) and the edema index ECW/TBW decreased from $0.399{\pm}0.010$ to $0.385{\pm}0.0 4$ (p<0.001). The EQ-VAS significantly improved from $61.77{\pm}17.72$ to $73.51{\pm}14.67$ (p<0.001). In the last 4-weeks of the postpartum period, the EQ-VAS decreased from $74.30{\pm}14.25$ to $73.63{\pm}13.35$, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.749). 3. Regarding the satisfaction with postpartum care with Korean Medicine, 60% of the participants responded that it was 'Excellent' and 40% said it was 'Good'. Conclusion: Over the entire postpartum period, the most frequent complaints were about musculoskeletal symptoms. Postpartum care with Korean Medicine treatments in the early postpartum period improves various postpartum symptoms and the quality of life for postpartum women.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.14-23
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• 2020

Objectives : We investigated the efficacy and safety of miniscalpel acupuncture (MA) treatment combined with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for chronic neck pain (CNP) in an assessor-blinded randomized controlled pilot trial to establish a basis for larger-scale randomized controlled studies on this subject. Methods : Participants (n=36) were recruited and randomly allocated to the MA group, NSAIDs and combined treatment group. The MA group received MA three times over three weeks. The NSAIDs group was administered orally with zaltoprofen 80mg t.i.d. over three weeks. The combined treatment group received MA and zaltoprofen in the same manner as MA and NSAIDs groups. The primary outcome was pain as assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the secondary outcomes were assessed using the Neck Disability index (NDI), EuroQol 5-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D), and Patients' Global Impression of Change scale (PGIC). Assessments were made at week 0 (baseline), 1, 2, 3 (primary end point) during treatment and at week 7 (4 weeks after the end of treatment). Results : 35 participants completed the study. No serious adverse event occurred and blood test results were within normal limits. The improvement of VAS and NDI was significantly greater in combined and MA group than that in NSAIDs group (p<0.017). The combined group showed better outcomes in EQ-5D at visit 2 and 5, in PGIC at visit 4 than the NSAIDs group (p<0.017). No significant differences were found between combined and MA group. Conclusions : Our results suggest that both combined and MA group can be more effective in improving pain control than NSAIDs group. A large-scale clinical study is warranted to further clarify these findings.

• Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.957-963
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• 2015

Objective To compare the pain-reducing effect of forest bathing alone versus forest bathing in combination with stretching and strengthening exercises in patients with chronic posterior neck pain. Methods Sixty-four subjects with posterior neck pain that had lasted more than 3 months were enrolled. They were randomly divided into a forest bathing alone (FBA) group and a forest bathing with exercise (FBE) group; each group included 32 subjects. All subjects from both groups walked every morning in the forest for about 2 hours for 5 days. In the afternoon, the FBE group did a stretching and strengthening exercise for about 4 hours; the FBA group had free time in the woods. Visual analog scale (VAS) on one day, VAS over the previous week, neck disability index (NDI), EuroQol 5D-3L VAS (EQ VAS) and index (EQ index), McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ), the number of trigger points in the posterior neck region (TRPs), and the range of motion of the cervical spine were evaluated on the first and last day of the program and compared between the two groups. Results The number of TRPs were significantly reduced in the FBE group compared with the FBA group (p=0.013). However, the other scales showed no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion When patients with chronic posterior neck pain underwent a short-term forest bathing (less than 7 days) program, FBE was more effective in the reduction of the number of TRPs than FBA. However, all other pain measurement scales we evaluated showed no statistically significant difference between the two protocols.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.109-115
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• 2019

Cervical dystonia (CD) is a disorder characterized by sustained or intermittent, involuntary muscle contractions which cause twisting, repetitive movements and abnormal postures. In this case report, a CD patients was treated with transfer energy capacitive and resistive (TECAR) therapy and conventional Korean medicine, which consists of acupuncture, Chuna manual medicine, pharmacopuncture and herbal medicine. For outcome measures, this study evaluated Cobb's angle, EuroQol five dimension scale (EQ-5D), numerical rating scale (NRS), neck disabillity index (NDI) and cervical range of motion. As a result, improvements were found in Cobb's angle ($18.65^{\circ}$ to $15.90^{\circ}$), EQ-5D score (0.808 to 0.862), NRS (5 to 3), NDI (16 to 8) and angle of cervical lateral bending ($15^{\circ}$ to $25^{\circ}$). In conclusion, this study shows that combined therapy of conventional Korean medicine treatment and TECAR therapy can be effective for CD patients.