HEALTH SERVICE RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Park J, Ko SK, Joo JS, Nam B, Kim CY.
Adjunctive therapies by Korean asthma patients.
School of Public Health, Seoul National University
cykim@snu.ac.kr
PURPOSE: To investigate the types of adjunctive
therapy use by asthma patients in Korea where adjunctive therapies fall
under two categories: professionalized Korean medicine (PKM) and non-regulated
CAM therapies; also to determine which demographic and socioeconomic
factors affect patients' decisions to use these adjunctive therapies.
METHODS: Asthma patients of any age visiting
out-patient clinics for Western medicine treatment in Korea participated
in a questionnaire survey. The survey asked information on demographics,
socioeconomic issues (education, income), clinical conditions (severity,
duration of morbidity, and experience of emergency/admission), self-reported
general health (10-point scale from 1 to 10) and the detailed information
regarding use of PKM and other adjunctive therapies in the past year.
Patient population was first divided into users of adjunctive therapies
in combination with Western medicine, and users of Western medicine
only. Adjunctive therapy users were then further divided into three
subgroups: those who 1) used PKM only; 2) used both PKM and other CAM;
and 3) used CAM only. The frequency of adjunctive therapy use was assessed
for association with demographic, socioeconomic, and symptomatic variables,
and then compared to those who use only Western medicine. Multiple logistic
regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) (and 95%
confidence intervals [CIs]) of association of individual variables with
KM and CAM use.
RESULTS: Six Hundred sixty patients from 31
institutions participated in the questionnaire survey from April to
May in 2004. Of 660 asthma patients (age: Mean (SD) = 45.5 (23.6); M/F=314/346),
356 (53.9%) were adjunctive therapy users, which subdivided into 47,
(7.1%) who used PKM only; 93 (14.1%) who used both PKM and other CAM;
and 216 (32.7%) who used CAM only. Those who used any adjunctive therapies
were significantly younger (p<0.01), more likely to be female (p<0.01),
and visited out patient clinics significantly more frequently (p<0.001).
Multiple logistic regression modeling found that education, sex, age,
and the number of out patient clinic visits influence the use of adjunctive
therapies.
CONCLUSION: The use of adjunctive therapies
including PKM among Korean asthma patients is highly prevalent. Younger
age, being female, and visiting outpatient clinics more frequently are
significant influential factors to its use. In addition, severity of
asthma and the patient's residential address also have a tendency to
influence the use of adjunctive therapies in Korea. An urgent response
to appreciate the current state is required of asthma specialists.
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