• Journal of Convergence Korean Medicine
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.5-23
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• 2023

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of combination treatment of herbal medicine for external use and western medicine for atopic dermatitis (AD). Methods: We searched randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which assess the effect of combination treatment of herbal and western medicine for AD through 8 electronic databases from the start to December 2022. The data synthesis was conducted by using Review Manager (RevMan, ver.5.4.1) and Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias. Results: 13 RCTs were included. The combination treatment group had significantly higher total efficacy rate(p<0.0001) and lower SCORAD score (p<0.00001) than the western medicine treatment group. The adverse event rate was also significantly lower in the combination treatment than the western medicine treatment group (p<0.0001). But there was no significant difference in recurrence rate (p=0.09). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the combination treatment of herbal and western medicine could be safe and effective for AD. However, due to limits of included studies such as high heterogeneity between the literature and unclear risk of bias, further studies are warranted.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.96-104
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• 2022

This study aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome by reviewing published randomized controlled trials. Among the 186 studies retrieved from 7 online databases (PubMed, Cochrane library, CNKI, NDSL, RISS, OASIS, KMbase) on October 29, 2021, 4 studies were selected according to the inclusion, exclusion criteria, and were evaluated using risk of bias. Control groups for electroacupuncture were wearing a splint at night, traditional acupuncture, and medication. Methods such as total effective, functional status scale, symptom severity scale, electromyography, tip pinch strength, visual analogue scale, numeric rating scale, and ultrasound were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect. Electroacupuncture was reported to have significant treatment results compared with the control group in methods such as total effectiveness, electromyography, and tip pinch strength. However, the quality of the studies (using risk of bias) does not allow reliable conclusions to be made. Many high quality (low risk of bias) randomized controlled trials are needed to examine the efficacy of electroacupuncture treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.145-170
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to clarity the concept of health insensitivity using Hybrid model, which consists of three phases： theoretical, empirical, and analytic. In the theoretical phase, the definitions of health insensitivity were searched in korean dictionary and examples used in the websites because the concept of health insensitivity has never been studied before. Two dimensions of health insensitivity emerged out from this investigation were cognitive and behavioral. And then a working definition of health insensitivity was established. The sub-concepts and related factors of health insensitivity were identified through the extensive reviews of the literature focusing on two dimensions of cognitive and behavioral. In the empirical phase, in order to obtain description of health insensitivity, face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with nine persons who are not related to professional health care. Grounded theory approach was applied to analyze these qualitative data. In the final analytic phase, theoretical results and empirical results were analyzed in the integrated way and a theoretical framework of health insensitivity was established. A refined definition of health insensitivity was that decreased health risk perception in cognitive dimension and conduction of the unhealthy behaviors in behavioral dimension. Sub-concepts of decreased health risk perception were optimistic bias and decreased general fear. Sub-concepts of unhealthy behavior were doing health threatening behavior and not doing desirable health behavior. The contact of health information was a causal condition of health insensitivity. Optimistic disposition, health locus of control, and avoidance coping style were intervening conditions of health insensitivity. Three types of health insensitivity were identified： unconcern or ignorance type, optimistic bias type, and cognitive dissonance type. Finally, The implications of these findings for further research and nursing practice are discussed.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.129-142
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• 2018

Introduction: This systematic review evaluated the use of buffered versus non-buffered lidocaine to increase the efficacy of inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB). Materials and Methods: Randomized, double-blinded studies from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and ProQuest were identified. Two of the authors assessed the studies for risk of bias. Outcomes included onset time, injection pain on a visual analog scale (VAS), percentage of painless injections, and anesthetic success rate of IANB. Results: The search strategy yielded 19 references. Eleven could be included in meta-analyses. Risk of bias was unclear in ten and high in one study. Buffered lidocaine showed 48 seconds faster onset time (95% confidence interval [CI], -42.06 to -54.40; P < 0.001) and 5.0 units lower (on a scale 0-100) VAS injection pain (95% CI, -9.13 to -0.77; P=0.02) than non-buffered. No significant difference was found on percentage of people with painless injection (P = 0.059), nor success rate (P = 0.290). Conclusion: Buffered lidocaine significantly decreased onset time and injection pain (VAS) compared with non-buffered lidocaine in IANB. However due to statistical heterogeneity and low sample size, quality of the evidence was low to moderate, additional studies with larger numbers of participants and low risk of bias are needed to confirm these results.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.17-25
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• 2022

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of manual therapy for knee meniscus injuries. Methods We searched seven electronic databases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CAJ, Wanfang, RISS, ScienceON, and OASIS) to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using the keywords "manual therapy OR chuna OR tuina" and "meniscus injury." Results Eleven RCTs were selected based on the inclusion criteria, and all studies were conducted in China. Five studies were meta-analyzed. The systematic review revealed a positive effect of manual therapy for knee meniscus injury. Low risk of selection, attrition, and reporting bias were demonstrated in all studies. Ten studies had a high risk of performance bias. Conclusions The systematic review reported favorable results using manual therapy for knee meniscus injury. However, this study has several limitations because of the high risk of bias. Further clinical studies and reviews with higher levels of evidence are warranted.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of moxibustion for primary dysmenorrhea (PD). Methods: We searched 10 electronic databases (CNKI, WANFANG, VIP, AMED, CiNii, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, OASIS, Korea Traditional Knowledge Portal) to identify eligible studies published before November 2016. We included randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) using moxibustion for primary dysmenorrhea. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Ten RCT studies were eligible in our review. The overall risk of bias was evaluated as unclear. The meta-analysis of 4 trials indicated that favorable results for the use of moxibustion. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials suggests that moxibustion can achieve good efficacy for PD patients. However, because of studies included analysis was biased due to unclear risk of bias and unreliable study design, future high-quality RCT studies are needed to determine the association moxibustion with PD.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.123-142
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmacologic interventions in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL, and several Korean databases (Until August 2017) were searched. The main search strategy combined terms for peripheral neuropathy and presence of neoplasms. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool for randomized studies and the Risk of Bias Assessment tool for non-randomized studies. To estimate the effect size, a meta-analysis of the studies was performed using the Rev Man 5.3 program of the Cochrane Library random-effects models were used in the analyses. Results: Twenty-two studies with a total of 954 participants met the inclusion criteria. Of the 22 studies, 12 were used to estimate the effect size of the non-pharmacologic interventions. The non-pharmacologic interventions used in patients with CIPN were exercise, acupuncture, massage, and foot bath. The acupuncture significantly reduced CIPN symptoms and signs (d=-0.71) and CIPN pain (d=-0.73) (p<.001). Massage and foot bath were also effective in reducing CIPN symptoms (d=-0.68; 95% CI=-1.05, -0.30; p<.001; $I^2=19%$).Exercises were effective in improving muscle strength and endurance(d=-0.55) and quality of life (d=-2.96), but they were not significantly effective in improving CIPN. Conclusion: Although these results provide little evidence of the effectiveness of acupuncture, massage, and foot bath in the treatment of CIPN, they suggest that these interventions can reduce CIPN symptoms in patients with cancer. However, the findings of this study should be interpreted with caution as there is a relative lack of data in this field, and additional well-designed studies are needed. PROSPERO registration: CRD42017076278.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.92-109
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• 2022

Objectives: The objective of this study was to appraise the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) for the treatment of acute gout. Methods: Since no suitable study could be found in the domestic database, we performed a literature search up to the end of December 2020 using four international electronic databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of EA in the treatment of acute gout were included. The risk of bias was evaluated from the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Eight appropriate RCTs were included and analyzed. Three evaluation tools were mainly used: Total Effective Rate (TER), Uric acid (UA), and Pain score (VAS). In the case of TER, in all eight cases, electroacupuncture alone and combined treatment showed a statistically significant level of improvement compared to Western medicine treatment. In the case of VAS score, electroacupuncture alone and combined treatment showed a more significant effect than Western medicine treatment. In the case of UA level, electroacupuncture combined treatment showed a more significant effect than western medicine treatment. Although not all three evaluation tools were used in all studies, the majority of studies showed that electroacupuncture was effective for acute gout patients. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that EA treatment may be effective for acute gout. It should be noted, however, that the studies included in this study were geographically biased, small in number, and mostly at high risk of bias. More well-designed studies are needed in the future.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.55-66
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• 2018

Objectives To evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of bee venom acupuncture for ankle sprain. Methods We conducted search across 11 electronic databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL [CENTRAL], KoreaMed, Kmbase, Koreanstudies Information Service System [KISS], National Digital Science Library [NDSL], Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information [KISTI], China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], Wanfang and Chinese Scientific Journals Database [VIP] database) to find clinical trials that used bee venom acupuncture as treatment for ankle sprain. The methodological quality of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) tool, while non-randomized controlled clinical trials (NRCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment tool for Non-randomized Study (RoBANS) tool. Results Four RCTs and one nRCT met our inclusion criteria. Almost studies showed that bee venom acupuncture has positive effect on ankle sprain. 4 studies of same intervention and control included in the meta-analysis. When comparing bee venom acupuncture and acupuncture with acupuncture, the effect size of standardized mean difference (SMD) was -0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.95~1.56, Z=0.55, p=0.83). And when comparing bee venom acupuncture with acupuncture, the effect size of SMD was -0.17 (95% CI: -0.65~0.31, Z=0.71, p=0.48). Conclusions Although our systematic review found encouraging but limited evidence of bee venom acupuncture for ankle sprain, most of the studies included in the analysis were evaluated as methodologically high risk of bias. From now on further well-designed RCTs should be encouraged.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.28.1-28.13
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• 2020

Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of in vitro studies comparing the effectiveness of QMix irrigant in removing the smear layer in the root canal system compared with other irrigants. Materials and Methods: The research question was developed by using Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome and Study design framework. Literature search was performed using 3 electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCOhost until October 2019. Two reviewers were independently involved in the selection of the articles and data extraction process. Risk of bias of the studies was independently appraised using revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2.0) based on 5 domains. Results: Thirteen studies fulfilled the selection criteria. The overall risk of bias was moderate. QMix was found to have better smear layer removal ability than mixture of tetracycline isonomer, an acid and a detergent (MTAD), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), and phytic acid. The efficacy was less effective than 7% maleic acid and 10% citric acid. No conclusive results could be drawn between QMix and 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid due to conflicting results. QMix was more effective when used for 3 minutes than 1 minute. Conclusions: QMix has better smear layer removal ability compared to MTAD, NaOCl, Tubulicid Plus, and Phytic acid. In order to remove the smear layer more effectively with QMix, it is recommended to use it for a longer duration.