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Overall, the quantity and quality of RCTs included in the analysis were too low to draw meaningful conclusions. Even in the positive trials, it remained unclear whether the observed outcome was due to specific effects of AT/EA or nonspecific effects of care. Further research is required to investigate whether AT/EA demonstrates specific effects on CRF.

The aim of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of whiplash associated disorder (WAD). Twenty databases were searched from their inceptions to Oct. 2013. Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of acupuncture (AT), electroacupuncture (EA), or dry needling (DN) for the treatment of WAD were considered eligible. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Six RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Most of the included RCTs have serious methodological flaws. Four of the RCTs showed effectiveness of AT, AT in addition to usual care (UC), AT in addition to herbal medicine (HM) or EA was more effective than relaxation, sham EA, sham EA in addition to HM or UC for conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and alleviating pain. In one RCT, DN in addition to physiotherapy (PT) had no effect compared to sham-DN in addition to PT for the reduction of pain. None of the RCTs showed that AT/EA/DN was more effective than various types of control groups in reducing disability/function. One RCT did not report between-group comparisons of any outcome measures. The evidence for the effectiveness of AT/EA/DN for the treatment of WAD is limited. Therefore, more research in this area is warranted.

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The objectives of this study were to summarize the curriculum, history, and clinical researches of Chuna in Korea and to ultimately introduce Chuna to Western medicine. Information about the history and insurance coverage of Chuna was collected from Chuna-related institutions and papers. Data on Chuna education in all 12 Korean medicine (KM) colleges in Korea were reconstructed based on previously published papers. All available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Chuna in clinical research were searched using seven Korean databases and six KM journals. As a result, during the modern Chuna era, one of the three periods of Chuna, which also include the traditional Chuna era and the suppressed Chuna era, Chuna developed considerably because of a solid Korean academic system, partial insurance coverage, and the establishment of a Chuna association in Korea. All of the KM colleges offered courses on Chuna-related subjects (CRSs); however, the total number of hours dedicated to lectures on CRSs was insufficient to master Chuna completely. Overall, 17 RCTs were reviewed. Of the 14 RCTs of Chuna in musculoskeletal diseases, six reported Chuna was more effective than a control condition, and another six RCTs proposed Chuna had the same effect as a control condition. One of these 14 RCTs made the comparison impossible because of unreported statistical difference; the last RCT reported Chuna was less effective than a control condition. In addition, three RCTs of Chuna in neurological diseases reported Chuna was superior to a control condition. In conclusion, Chuna was not included in the regular curriculum in KM colleges until the modern Chuna era; Chuna became more popular as the result of it being covered by Korean insurance carriers and after the establishment of a Chuna association. Meanwhile, the currently available evidence is insufficient to characterize the effectiveness of Chuna in musculoskeletal and neurological diseases.

Currently, the evidence of the effectiveness of Chuna for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain is not convincing. Further rigorously designed trials are warranted to determine its effectiveness.

BackgroundThe present study was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the ‘Korean Standard Pattern Identification for Stroke (K-SPI-Stroke)’, which was developed and evaluated within the context of traditional Korean medicine (TKM).MethodsBetween September 2006 and December 2010, 2,905 patients from 11 Korean medical hospitals were asked to complete the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire as a part of project ' Fundamental study for the standardization and objectification of pattern identification in traditional Korean medicine for stroke (SOPI-Stroke). Each patient was independently diagnosed by two TKM physicians from the same site according to one of four patterns, as suggested by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine: 1) a Qi deficiency pattern, 2) a Dampness-phlegm pattern, 3) a Yin deficiency pattern, or 4) a Fire-heat pattern. We estimated the internal consistency using Cronbach’s α coefficient, the discriminant validity using the means score of patterns, and the predictive validity using the classification accuracy of the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire.ResultsThe K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire had satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.700) and validity, with significant differences in the mean of scores among the four patterns. The overall classification accuracy of this questionnaire was 65.2 %.ConclusionThese results suggest that the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for estimating the severity of the four patterns.

BackgroundThe traditional Korean medical diagnoses employ pattern identification (PI), a diagnostic system that entails the comprehensive analysis of symptoms and signs. The PI needs to be standardized due to its ambiguity. Therefore, this study was performed to establish standard indicators of the PI for stroke through the traditional Korean medical literature, expert consensus and a clinical field test.MethodsWe sorted out stroke patterns with an expert committee organized by the Korean Institute of Oriental Medicine. The expert committee composed a document for a standardized pattern of identification for stroke based on the traditional Korean medical literature, and we evaluated the clinical significance of the document through a field test.ResultsWe established five stroke patterns from the traditional Korean medical literature and extracted 117 indicators required for diagnosis. The indicators were evaluated by a field test and verified by the expert committee.ConclusionsThis study sought to develop indicators of PI based on the traditional Korean medical literature. This process contributed to the standardization of traditional Korean medical diagnoses.