간 질환 환자들의 대체의학 이용실태 = Attitudes toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients of Liver Diseases

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigated the existing remedies and the complementary and alternative medicine used by the liver-disease patients who live in Busan City and KyeongSangNam-Do, and examined the concrete instances how they use those medical methods. Next, it tried to offer basic informations about the complementary and alternative medicine, in order to have a correct selection and right treatment & management, by understanding reasons why they adopt the complementary and alternative medicine, their satisfaction degrees, and sort of complementary and alternative medicine. The selected patients were 300 outpatients of liver-internal department in Kosin University Gospel Hospital located at Busan City, and interviewers directly carried out the questionnaire survey with those patients.
The summarized study results were as follows;
Out of the whole study subjects, the group who experienced the complementary and alternative medicine occupied 50.9%, and as for the recognition degrees of complementary and alternative medicine, 53.2% out of the whole subjects answered that they were ignorant of the complementary and alternative medicine. As for the places where they use the complementary and alternative medicine, the biggest figure was 64.5%, private residence, and 26.5% was Oriental medicine hospital. With respect to the sort of complementary and alternative medicine used by study subjects, 76.5% used dietary treatment and nutritious cure, which was the largest figure; among the dietary cures, marsh snail belonging to animality occupied 30.1%, wild parsley belonging to vegetability reached 38.2%, green juice(NokJeup) belonging to health aiding food products occupied 42.0%. Most subjects answered that they are satisfied with the complementary and alternative medicine. As for the advantages of this complementary and alternative medicine, compared with those of the Western medicine, 38.2% answered 'no harm', 27.2%, 'psychological security', 14.1%, 'comparatively less (adverse) side-effects'. So most repliers that they favor this complementary and alternative medicine.
It is proved that few adverse side effects occurred, that marsh snail, wild parsley, and green juice were taken mostly. More studies and clinical examination would be necessary to know what influences those health assistant food products have on the liver diseases.