Usage status and satisfaction with pharmacopuncture in Korea: A survey among Korean medicine doctors

Abstract

IntroductionPharmacopuncture is a traditional therapy combining acupuncture and herbal medicines. In this study, we investigated the usage status of pharmacopuncture among Korean medicine doctors (KMDs) and differences in satisfaction regarding pharmacopuncture use. MethodsWe conducted a self-reporting online survey via e-mail from April 25 to 7 May 7, 2018, and analyzed the responses of a total of 393 KMDs. ResultsEighty-eight percent of respondents had used pharmacopuncture during the previous year. Their average clinical experience of using pharmacopuncture was 8.04 years and the percentage of patients treated using pharmacopuncture was 39.2%. Pharmacopuncture was used mainly to treat musculoskeletal, neurological, and gastrointestinal diseases. Bee venom and blood stasis pharmacopuncture were the most commonly used types. Participants were highly satisfied with treatment efficacy but were less satisfied with treatment cost. KMD satisfaction with pharmacopuncture was assessed with regards to two aspects: practitioner and patient (as evaluated by the practitioner) satisfaction. In both cases, satisfaction with pharmacopuncture was high in KMDs who use it for gastrointestinal diseases. However, practitioner satisfaction was low among KMDs who used bee venom and blood stasis pharmacopuncture, whereas patient satisfaction was high among those KMDs who treated them using ginseng pharmacopuncture. ConclusionsSatisfaction with pharmacopuncture treatment tended to contrast with the frequency of use. Although KMDs are currently focusing on pain-related disorders, our results indicate that pharmacopuncture can be highly applicable in other areas such as the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases; however, this needs to be verified by further research.