[Research trend of complementary and alternative medicine].
OBJECTIVE
This study was done to describe the research trend of Complementary and Alternative Medicine(CAM) in Korea and internationally.


METHODS
A Systematic review of CAM related literature published from 2000 to 2005 was done. A comprehensive search by using 34 CAM modalities as search terms to identify all articles dealing with CAM was undertaken from 4 databases: PubMed, RICHIS, KoreaMed, and Riss4U. A Total of 588 abstracts and 223 original articles were reviewed by two independent reviewers using systematic analysis guidelines. Data regarding the types of study design, characteristics of subjects and researchers, and classification of CAM modalities was recorded. The outcome measures of CAM were identified.


RESULTS
CAM research has been rapidly increasing worldwide in the last decade. In Korea, nursing(53.5%) followed by medicine(42.7%) occupied the majority of CAM research in comparison to medicine(42.9%) and disciplines in CAM(25.0%), like homeopathy, internationally. Prevailing research designs in Korea were experimental and quasi-experimental, however, randomized clinical trials were found. Internationally, survey research was dominant, with the exception of randomized clinical trials that were mostly an experimental design.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that a robust research design in CAM research is needed to accumulate strong scientific evidence and to adopt nursing interventions from CAM modalities.
Oh
Kasil
K
College of Nursing, Yonsei University.
Kim
Keum Soon
KS
Kwon
So-Hi
SH
Park
Jee Won
JW
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D016239:MEDLINE; D016294:Models, Nursing; D039781:PubMed; D012107:Research Design