Project for scientification, standardization, and coverage expansion of Korean Medicine

The final Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines for seven diseases including hwabyeong*, facial paralysis, and shoulder pain will be released this year after completion of clinical studies. The Guideline Center for Korean Medicine is currently developing an evidence-based Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline for a total of 30 major diseases, with the goal of achieving Korean medical care that can be trusted and easily accessed by the public. Currently, the 30 Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines has passed the preliminary review by the evaluation committee.

*Hwabyeong: Korean somatization disorder, a mental illness which arises when people are unable to confront their anger as a result of conditions which they perceive to be unfair (Rhi B. Y. (2004). "Hwabyung-An overview". Psychiatry Invest. 1: 21-24)

The 30 Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines consist of eight areas previously researched (facial paralysis, hwabyeong, ankle sprains, shoulder pain, neck pain, chronic lower back pain syndrome, lumbar disc herniation, and knee pain) and 22 new research areas (stroke, common cold, hypertension, cold hypersensitivity in the hands and feet, migraines, vertigo, Parkinson’s disease, insomnia, functional dyspepsia, temporomandibular disorder, allergy induced rhinitis, breast cancer, fatigue, cancer anorexia and cancer-related fatigue, anxiety disorders, dementia, autism, post-operative syndromes, post-traumatic stress disorder, degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis, dysmenorrhea, and post-menopausal syndrome). Among the eight previously researched areas, knee pain was excluded to total seven clinical practice guidelines that will receive final approval this year after completion of a clinical trial. Additionally, the remaining 23 areas will commence clinical trials over a three-year period.

The Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines development project aims for the scientification, standardization, and coverage expansion of Korean Medicine in accordance with the Third Korean Medicine Development Plan. It promotes the safety and effective results of Korean Medicine via scientific verification, thereby contributing to the strengthening of trust among patients as well as the reduction of medical care costs. From 2016 to 2021, a total of 30 billion KRW will be invested to facilitate clinical studies across the globe and the guidelines will be provided to first-line Korean Medicine institutions starting in 2021.

The Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines are developed by integrating all existing evidence such as systematic reviews and expert opinions, and areas lacking scientific evidence are supplemented with clinical trial results.

Accordingly, the Center for Korean Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines strives to objectively verify the treatment techniques and prescriptions used at first-line Korean Medicine clinics. The Center also oversees projects from developing Korean Medicine treatment techniques to public resources in order to share high-quality technology with the public and to support the industrialization of Korean Medicine.

The public resources development project is tasked with raising awareness about the diverse and top quality treatment techniques used in Korean Medicine clinics that may not be widely known by the public. It is also responsible for verification studies and quality assurance across the entire Korean Medicine industry.

The Center is also carrying out a project to construct an integrated clinical information center that promotes the specialized characteristics of Korean Medicine. The Integrated Clinical Information Center builds a comprehensive database on various treatment methods for use as source data in future studies.

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