A Web-based Survey Research on Clinical Practice Patterns of Korean Medicine Treatment for Degenerative arthritis of hip and finger joints

Objectives: This study aimed to understand the current status of clinical practice patterns of Korean medicine in the treatment of degenerative arthritis of the hip and finger joints using web-based survey.Methods: An e-mail questionnaire survey was conducted with the Korean Medicine Doctor(K.M.D) registered in the Korean Medicine Association. The survey data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.Results: Although the response rate of the survey was low, the characteristics of the respondents generally reflected the characteristics of the study population. A total of 35.2% of the respondents had heard of the guidelines; however, they did not use them for medical treatment. The reason as answered by 32.8% of the respondents was “not enough treatment time to check the manual and apply it.” More than half (78.80%) answered that they were treating patients with both degenerative hip and finger arthritis; however, the average monthly number of first-time patients was ≤5. A total of 379 (60.9%) respondents answered that “acupuncture is very important,” which was the only one that exceeded the majority compared to other treatments. As a result of the safety investigation, “Acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping” were considered high in safety, while “Pharmacopuncture and Bee venom acupuncture” were considered low in safety.Conclusions: This survey helped to determine the current clinical practice patterns of Korean medicine treatments, further providing basic data for CPGs for degenerative arthritis of the hip and finger joints.