Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the extent to which Korean Medicine doctors consider
cold and heat pattern identification when prescribing herbal treatment for disease.
Methods: A survey was sent by email to 15,841 members of the Association of Korean Medicine for
whom member information was registered. Of these, 699 (4.4%) participated in the survey. The
survey included questions regarding the frequency of use of cold and heat pattern identification in
deciding on a herbal treatment prescription, the diseases for which cold and heat pattern
identification-related herbal treatment was most efficacious, the kind of herbal treatment prescribed,
and the duration of treatment.
Results: Of the 699 respondents, 591 (84.5%) reported that they consider cold and heat when
prescribing herbal treatment. Diseases for which consideration of cold and heat patterns was effective
were, in order, menopausal disorder (124, 18.3%), chronic rhinitis (98, 14.5%), dyspepsia (94, 13.9%),
hwa-byung (92, 13.6%), diarrhea (83, 12.3%), dysmenorrhea (61, 9.0%), headache (59, 8.7%),
inflammation in the digestive tract (58, 8.6%), coldness in hands and feet (58, 8.6%), and atopic
dermatitis (55, 8.1%). The typical treatment duration differed widely for different disease: atopic
dermatitis was most frequently treated for "more than 2 months" (38, 34.5%), whereas diarrhea was
most frequently treated for "10 days or less" (73, 43.6%) |
