• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.147-156
• /
• 2015

Objectives : This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Korean medicine for a thoracolumbar compression fracture. Methods : We searched six Korean databases (DBPIA, Korean Studies Information Service System, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, National Digital Science Library, Research Information Sharing Service, KoreaMed) (up to June 2015) and the Journal of Korean Acupuncture and Moxibustion Society. Unpublished studies were also searched. Clinical research, other than case reports involving less than 10 patients, were eligible. The effectiveness and safety of Korean Medicine was analyzed. The 'Risk of Bias' was assessed using the 'Risk of Bias' assessment tool for non-randomized studies as well as the Cochrane Collaboration's 'Risk of Bias' tool. Results : We found 12 before-after studies (374 patients). There was no randomized trial. All studies combined at least three different types of Korean medicine treatments. The period of treatment varied between less a week and 154 days. All the included studies reported improvements in pain, functional disability related to lower back pain, global assessment, and benefits in the compression ratio of a fractured vertebrae and skin temperature measured by digital infrared thermal imaging in comparison with the baseline. However, all studies had a high risk of bias and three studies reported mild adverse events. Conclusions : There is no randomized trial for the role of Korean medicine for patients with a thoracolumbar compression fracture. The effectiveness and safety of Korean medicine for this population remains unclear. Findings in this review are seriously biased due to observational design and a high risk of bias included in the studies. Future high-quality randomized trials are warranted.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.52-68
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the weight loss effects of auricular acupuncture in obese patients. Methods: Six databases (Research Information Sharing Service [RISS], Korean studies Information Service System [KISS], Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS], PubMed, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI]) were searched up to May 20, 2020. Eight eligible randomized controlled trials were included the present study. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool and a meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager software. A meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model and a subgroup analysis was performed to detect the sources of heterogeneity, identify the selection of acupuncture methods and explore its contributions to the weight loss effects. Results: Among 8 trials, 5 trials used auricular acupuncture and 2 trials used auricular acupressure, 1 trial used both types of intervention. Most commonly selected acupoints were Shenmen (TF4) and stomach (CO4). Treatment duration was six to twelve weeks, and total treatment session was six to twelve. Compared to the control groups, auricular acupuncture significantly decreased body weight, body mass index (BMI), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL) and ghrelin. For the selection of acupuncture methods, both methods performed similarly in most outcome except waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (BFP), and triglycerides (TG). Conclusions: We found that auricular acupuncture can be effective for weight loss and controlling appetite. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to heterogeneity. So further vigorous and well-designed studies should be conducted to strengthen the evidence of the use of auricular acupuncture for obesity.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.73 no.1
• /
• pp.48-55
• /
• 2012

Background: The epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) has been assessed based on the data of the analysis of TB patients notified to the surveillance system in Korea. However, the national status of TB is not validated through this surveillance system. The objective is to determine the epidemiology of TB and to understand the accurate status of TB patients treated in private institutions. Methods: Medical records of 53,579 patients who had been diagnosed with TB in 2008 were analyzed. Results: Among 53,579 patients, the number of sputum smear positive cases was 15,639(29.2%) and the number of new cases was 39,191 (73.1%). The drug resistance rate of new cases was 5.3%, while the rate stood at 13.3% for TB patients with treatment history. The number of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients was 2,472 (4.6%), which consists of 2.9% of new cases and 9.3% of TB patients with prior treatment history. The number of extensively drug-resistant TB patients was 749 (1.4%), consisting of 1.1% of new cases and 2.2% of TB patients with prior treatment history. In terms of treatment outcomes, 66.4% of all TB patients, 70.5% of new cases, 64.4% of relapse cases, and 46.8% of MDR-TB cases were cured or completed. It was inferred that in 2008, the total number of TB patients reached 70,767, 145.6 per 100,000 people (95% confidence interval, 145.5~145.7). Conclusion: We conclude that the medical records review of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data can be very effective in promoting the understanding of the current status of TB in private institutions.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.97-113
• /
• 2023

Objectives This study examined the trends in domestic and international research on the treatment of sarcopenia and analyzed the effectiveness of the treatment. Based on the results, we suggest directions for future Korean medicine research on sarcopenia. Methods The study was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review methodology. It included three international databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library) and five domestic databases (Korean studies Information Service System, Korean Medical database, Oriental Medicine Advanced Search Integrated System, Research Information Sharing Service, ScienceON) were used. Literatures published until April 30, 2023, including the contents of 'sarcopenia' and Korean Medicine treatment', were searched. Results A total of 45 studies were included in the analysis. The number of studies on Korean medicine treatments for sarcopenia is steadily increasing, with the majority of studies coming from Asian countries. Of the 45 studies, 30 were conducted in the field of medicine, and the study design was analyzed into 10 clinical studies and 35 non-clinical studies. Among the 10 clinical studies, the most common treatment interventions were herbs (n=4), followed by Daoist exercises (n=3). The most common diagnostic criteria used in clinical studies were those published by the Asian working group for sarcopenia, and various physical examinations and laboratory tests were used as outcome measures. Conclusions The future direction of Korean medicine research on sarcopenia should be to expand the number of clinical studies applying Korean medicine treatment interventions.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.125-151
• /
• 2008

Both companies and consumers are highly interested in on-line customer reviews which enable consumers to share their experience and knowledge about products. In this study, after classifying real reviews into context units and deriving categories, we analyzed differences between categories based on channel(manufacturers' homepage/ shopping mall), product attribute(search/experience) and price(high/low). The method to derive categories is based on roughly adopting constructs of ACSI model and elaborate and repetitive classification of real reviews. We set up the classification category with 3 levels. Level 1 consists of product and service, level 2 consists of function, design, price, purchase motive, suggestion/user-tip and recommendation/repurchase in product and AS/up-grade and delivery/others in service and level 3 is composed of details of level 2 of category. We could find remarkable differences between channels in all 8 items of level 2 of category. As the number of context units in homepage is more than in shopping mall, we found reviews in homepage is more concrete. Moreover, overall satisfaction in review was higher at homepage's. Also, in product attribute dimension, we found different patterns of reviews in design, purchase motive, suggestion/user-tip, recommendation/repurchase, AS/up-grade and delivery/others and no difference in overall customer's satisfaction. In price dimension, we found differences between high and low price in design, price and AS/up-grade and no difference in overall customer's satisfaction.

• Information Systems Review
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.159-176
• /
• 2021

Obviating user churn is a prominent strategy to capitalize on online games, eluding the initial investments required for the development of another. Extant literature has examined factors that may induce user churn, mainly from perspectives of motives to play and game as a virtual society. However, such works largely dismiss the service aspects of online games. Dissatisfaction of user needs constitutes a crucial aspect for user churn, especially with online services where users expect a continuous improvement in service quality via software updates. Hence, we examine the relationship between a game's quality management and its user base. With text mining and survival analysis, we identify complaint factors that act as key predictors of user churn. Additionally, we find that enjoyment-related factors are greater threats to user base than usability-related ones. Furthermore, subsequent quasi-experiment shows that improvements in the complaint factors (i.e., via game patches) curb churn and foster user retention. Our results shed light on the responsive role of developers in retaining the user base of online games. Moreover, we provide practical insights for game operators, i.e., to identify and prioritize more perilous complaint factors in planning successive game patches.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.29-49
• /
• 2024

Objectives The purpose of this study is to systemically review the recent studies in the Korean medicine treatments for torticollis. Methods We search the clinical studies from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2023. The studies were searched through 10 databases (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean studies Information Service System, Research Information Sharing Service, Korean Medical Database, ScienceON, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure). Results A total of 19 studies were included in the study. 12 studies were case report studies, 5 studies were randomized controlled trials, 2 studies were non-randomized controlled trials. Of the 19 interventions, Chuna was the most used in this study and of the 28 evaluation tools, Sternocleidomastoid thickness was the most used in this study except efficiency rate. All 19 studies had improvements after treatment, and 8 studies had statistically significant improvements. As a result of the study, we found that Chuna, GB, GB20, BL10, Glycyrrhiza uralensis were commonly used Korean medicine treatments for torticollis. Conclusions We analyzed the Korean medicine treatments for torticollis. Through this study, we found that the Korean medicine was effective for torticollis. However, more research is needed to confirm the more detailed effect.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2024

Recent discussions regarding smart tourism have gained significant momentum in tourism policy and industry; however, knowledge production in this research area remains fragmented and sporadic. This study aims to analyze trends in smart tourism research published in domestic KCI journals up to the end of July 2024 through a systematic literature review, proposing future research tasks to foster academic development. The analysis addresses both the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of smart tourism research, particularly focusing on tourism journals where the terms and concepts are prominent in policy and industry contexts, while also diagnosing the related research paradigms. The findings indicate that the term "smart tourism" began to prominently appear in research titles, topics, keywords, and abstracts as early as 2014. Among the 126 studies analyzed, research related to tourism constituted the largest share, accounting for 30.2%. However, due to the interdisciplinary nature of smart tourism, research has also emerged from various academic fields, including business studies, design, information communication, and computer science. Research on smart tourism has appeared in tourism journals since 2015, predominantly adopting a positivist research paradigm with an emphasis on quantitative methodologies that often utilize surveys. Additionally, the study reveals a pre-paradigm stage within smart tourism research, characterized by insufficient comprehensive conceptual and theoretical development. This stage has also restricted discussions on various ontological, epistemological, methodological, and interpretive issues. The theories mainly employed draw from established behavioral models, such as the Technology Acceptance Model, the Extended Technology Acceptance Model, and the Technology Readiness Model. Based on these findings, the study suggests future research directions for tourism scholars to determine whether smart tourism will solidify as a sustainable research topic or merely be regarded as a transient trend within tourism studies over the next decade.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.63-73
• /
• 2014

This research seeks opinions and development plan in forceful measures of qualifying examinations analyzing awareness of people in charge of medical tour about the qualifying examination system of international medical tour coordinator. The result of research shows the relatively positive awareness towards the qualifying examination and its system of international medical tour coordinator. Regarding the examination subjects, score about the necessity of subject where medical professionalism is considered marked high(4.01). About whether they would take the test or not, there was careful difference in the awareness of examination system(0.019) and operation method(0.004.). For the qualifying examination to be settled and thus to reinforce the professionalism, it is considered essential to have improvement in the problems of treatment towards acquisitors of certificate and awareness of field regarding the certificate, and review of supplementary subject aimed at the reinforcement of medical professionalism in terms of examination subjects.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.103-112
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study is to explore and classify the types of the attitude on a good death of nurses in long-term care hospitals. Q-methodology, which is effective in scientifically measuring individual subjectivity, was used. 151 Q-population were selected through the processes of review of research articles, newspaper articles and interviews. 34 Q-sample were selected from the 151 Q-population and 27 nurses in long-term care hospitals were invited as the P sample. The result of the Q-sort was analyzed using PC QUANL Program. The types of attitude on a good death of nurses in long-term care hospitals was categorized into three. 1) Death in supportive environment 2) a comfortable death in real life 3) Dignity guaranteed death By identifying 3 attitude patterns toward a good death of long-term hospital nurses, this study provides an opportunity for their reflection and recognition toward a good death based on this result and suggests to think about ways to improve the quality of nursing in the current increasing long-term hospitals.