Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

A survey of Korean medicine doctors’ clinical practice patterns for autism spectrum disorder: preliminary research for clinical practice guidelines

Authors: Jihong Lee, Sun Haeng Lee, Boram Lee, In Jun Yang, Gyu Tae Chang

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate autism spectrum disorder (ASD) clinical practice patterns of Korean medicine doctors (KMDs) through questionnaire survey.

Methods

Questionnaires on Korean medicine (KM) treatment for ASD were distributed to 255 KMDs on December 5, 2016. The KMDs were psychiatrists, pediatricians, or general practitioners, who treated patients with ASD. The questionnaire covered items on treatment methods, aims of treatment, KM syndrome differentiation, diagnostic tools, and sociodemographic characteristics. Frequency analysis was conducted to describe the participants and their practices.

Results

A total 22.4% KMDs (n = 57/255) completed the questionnaires and 54 KMDs (21.2%) matched the inclusion criteria. The KMDs utilized herbal medicine (27.3%), body acupuncture (17.6%), scalp acupuncture (10.7%), moxibustion (6.4%), and Korean medical psychotherapy (5.9%) to treat ASD. The most commonly prescribed herbal medicine was Yukmijihwang-tang. Forty-eight (88.9%) KMDs responded that they used KM syndrome differentiation. ‘Organ system, Qi, Blood, Yin, Yang, Fluid and Humor diagnosis’ was most frequently used for syndrome differentiation. ASD was mainly diagnosed based on the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and DSM-5.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrated the current status of KMDs’ diagnosis and treatment of ASD. In future clinical trials and clinical practice guidelines, these findings will provide meaningful information on the actual practice patterns of KMDs.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
American Psychiatric Association. Autism spectrum disorder. In: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Seoul: Hakjisa; 2013. p. 50–60.CrossRef
2.
Christensen DL, Baio J, Braun KVN, Bilder D, Charles J, Constantino JN, Daniels J, Durkin MS, Fitzgerald RT, Margaret KS, Lee LC, Pettygrove S, Robinson C, Schulz E, Wells C, Wingate MS, Zahorodny W, Marshalyn YA. Prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years-autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2012. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2016;65(3):1–23.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Kim YS, Leventhal BL, Koh Y, Fombonne E, Laska E, Lim E, Cheon K, Kim S, Kim YK, Lee H, Song D, Grinker RR. Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in a total population sample. Am J Psychiatry. 2011;168:904–12.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Myers SM, Johnson CP. Management of children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics. 2007;120:1162–82.CrossRefPubMed
5.
6.
7.
Shin Y, Shin JS, Lee J, Lee YJ, Kim M, Ahn Y, Park KB, Shin BC, Lee MS, Kim JH, Cho JH, Ha IHA. Survey among Korea medicine doctors (KMDs) in Korea on patterns of integrative Korean medicine practice for lumbar intervertebral disc displacement: preliminary research for clinical practice guidelines. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2015;15:432.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
8.
Oh IH, Yoon SJ, Park M, An S. Disease-specific differences in the use of traditional Korean medicine in Korea. BMC Complement Alternat Med. 2015;15:41.CrossRef
9.
10.
11.
Cheong M, Park J, Seo K, Huang J, Kim E, Kim J, Han K, Kim S, Kim Y. National survey on the use of Korean medicine and Korean herbal medicine. Korea Health Ind Dev Inst. 2014;11-1352000-000547-12:1–778.
12.
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Advise the Public Health Service on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Clinical practice guidelines: directions for a new program. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1990.
13.
Lee JN, Kim DG, Lee JY. Report on seven cases on patients with autism spectrum disorder treated by Kwakhyangjungkisanhapyukmijihwangtang-gamibang. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2015;29(1):50–9.CrossRef
14.
Jang JH, Lim YW, Lee SY. Two cases report about atypical autistic children. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2005;19(2):85–97.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Korean Society of Oriental Neuropsychiatry. Oriental neuropsychiatry. Seoul: Jip Moon Dang; 2010.
19.
Kim KB, Kim DG, Kim YH, Kim JH, Min SY, Park EJ, Baek JH, Sung HK, Yu SA, Lee SY, Lee JY, Lee HJ, Chang GT, Jeong MJ, Chai JW, Cheon JH, Han YJ, Han JK. Korean pediatrics & adolescent medicine. Ui Sung Dang: Seoul; 2015.
20.
Lavelle TA, Weinstein MC, Newhouse JP, Munir K, Kuhlthau KA, Prosser LA. Economic burden of childhood autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics. 2014;133:e520–9.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Buescher AVS, Cidav Z, Knapp M, Mandell DS. Costs of autism spectrum disorders in the United Kingdom and the United States. JAMA Pediatr. 2014;168(8):721–8.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Hyman SL, Levy SE. Autistic spectrum disorders: when traditional medicine is not enough. Contemp Pediatr. 2000;17(10):101.
23.
Sandler AD, Brazdziunas D, Cooley WC, Gonzalez de Pijem L, Hirsch D, Kastner TA, Kummer ME, Quint RD, Ruppert ES. Counseling families who choose complementary and alternative medicine for their child with chronic illness or disability. Pediatrics. 2001;107(3):598–601.
24.
Levy SE, Mandell DS, Merhar S, Ittenbach RF, Pinto-Martin JA. Use of complementary and alternative medicine among children recently diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2003;24(6):418–22.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Levy SE, Hyman SL. Alternative/complementary approaches to treatment of children with autistic spectrum disorders. Infants Young Child. 2002;14(3):33–42.CrossRef
26.
Nickel RE. Controversial therapies for young children with developmental disabilities. Infants Young Child. 1996;8(4):29–40.CrossRef
27.
Hong SJ, Choi KH, Song IS. A clinical report of scalp acupuncture effects on autistic children. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2009;23(3):133–42.
28.
Lee JH, Han JK, Lee HL, Kim YH. Review of clinical studies for oriental treatment of autism in traditional chinese medicine. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2014;28(4):85–95.CrossRef
29.
Lee JN, Lee SH, Lee JY. Recent clinical research on effect of acupuncture for autism spectrum disorder. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2015;29(4):119–26.CrossRef
30.
Lee EJ, Lee BR, Lee JH, Chang GT. A study on the recent trend of chief complaint of Korean pediatric and adolescent outpatients. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2016;30(1):45–58.CrossRef
31.
Choi MH, Kim DG, Lee JY. A study of the chief complaint of pediatric outpatients in the Kyung Hee oriental medicine hospital. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2010;24(3):121–37.
32.
Yoon KH, Koh DJ, Kim DG. Research on the actual conditions of the outpatients who visited the pediatrics department in ○○ university oriental medicine hospital between 2005 and 2006. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2007;21(3):125–43.
33.
Yun Y, Jung W, Kim H, Jang BH, Kim MH, Noh J, Ko SG, Choi I. Exploring syndrome differentiation using non-negative matrix factorization and cluster analysis in patients with atopic dermatitis. Comput Biol Med. 2017;87:70–6.CrossRefPubMed
34.
35.
Rho S, Kang M, Choi B, Sim D, Lee J, Lee E, Cho C, Oh J, Park S, Ko S, Shin M, Hong M, Bae H. Effects of Yukmijihwang-tang derivatives (YMJd), a memory enhancing herbal extract, on the gene-expression profile in the rat hippocampus. Biol Pharm Bull. 2005;28(1):87–93.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Huang Y, Zhang H, Yang S, Qiao H, Zhou W, Zhang Y. Liuwei Dihuang decoction facilitates the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in senescence accelerated mouse/prone 8 (SAMP8) hippocampal slices by inhibiting voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs) and promoting N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA) receptors. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;140:384–90.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Perrin JM, Coury DL, Hyman SL, Cole L, Reynolds AM, Clemons T. Complementary and alternative medicine use in a large pediatric autism sample. Pediatrics. 2012;130(Suppl):77.CrossRef
38.
Park B, Yun KJ, Jung J, You S, Lee JA, Choi J, Kang BK, Alraek T, Birch S, Lee MS. Conceptualization and utilization of blood stasis syndrome among doctors of Korean medicine: results of a web-based survey. Am J Transl Res. 2014;6(6):857–68.PubMedPubMedCentral
39.
Ko M, Lee J, Yun K, You S, Lee M. Perception of pattern identification in traditional medicine: a survey of Korean medical practitioners. J Tradit Chin Med. 2014;34(3):369–72.CrossRefPubMed
40.
41.
Son CH, Yun YJ, Yu SA. The experts survey and in-depth interview on the Korean medicine treatments for the cerebral palsy children. J Pediatr Korean Med. 2016;30(4):66–76.CrossRef
42.
43.
Lee B, Lee J, Cheon JH, Sung HK, Cho SH, Chang GT. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018; https://​doi.​org/​10.​1155/​2018/​1057539.
Metadata
Title
A survey of Korean medicine doctors’ clinical practice patterns for autism spectrum disorder: preliminary research for clinical practice guidelines
Authors
Jihong Lee
Sun Haeng Lee
Boram Lee
In Jun Yang
Gyu Tae Chang
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-018-2162-4

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research article

Euterpe oleracea extract inhibits tumorigenesis effect of the chemical carcinogen DMBA in breast experimental cancer

Research article

Terminalia chebula extract prevents scopolamine-induced amnesia via cholinergic modulation and anti-oxidative effects in mice

Research article

Associations between the use of herbal medicines and adverse pregnancy outcomes in rural Malawi: a secondary analysis of randomised controlled trial data

Research article

Antimicrobial activities of flavonoid glycosides from Graptophyllum grandulosum and their mechanism of antibacterial action

Research article

The leaves of Crataeva nurvala Buch-Ham. modulate locomotor and anxiety behaviors possibly through GABAergic system

Research article

Enhancement of neuroprotective activity of Sagunja-tang by fermentation with lactobacillus strains