Prescription patterns of herbal medicine for polycystic ovarian syndrome in major Korean medicine hospitals: a multicenter retrospective study

Abstract

Prescription patterns of herbal medicine for polycystic ovarian syndrome in major Korean medicine hospitals: a multicenter retrospective study Hye Won Lee1 , Lin Ang2,3 , Myeong Soo Lee2,3, *, Kyoung Sun Park4 , Jin-Moo Lee5 , Chang-Hoon Lee5 , Dong Chul Kim6 , Jeong-Eun Yoo7 , Seung-Jeong Yang8 , Tae-Young Choi2 1Herbal Medicine Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, 34054 Daejeon, South Korea 2 Clinical Medicine Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, 34054 Daejeon, South Korea 3 Korean Convergence Medicine, University of Science and Technology, 34113 Daejeon, South Korea 4 Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, 06110 Seoul, South Korea 5Department of Korean Medicine Gynecology, Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital at Gangdong, 05278 Seoul, South Korea 6Department of Gynecology, College of Korean Medicine, Daegu Hanny University, 38610 Gyeongsan, South Korea 7Department of Korean Medicine Obstetrics & Gynecology, College of Korean Medicine, Daejeon University, 34520 Daejeon, South Korea 8Department of Korean Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dongshin University Hospital of Korean Medicine, 58326 Naju, South Korea *Correspondence: drmslee@gmail.com; mslee@kiom.re.kr (Myeong Soo Lee) DOI:10.31083/j.ceog.2021.03.2471 This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Submitted: 16 January 2021 Revised: 26 February 2021 Accepted: 11 March 2021 Published: 15 June 2021 Background: Few studies investigated the prescription patterns of traditional Korean medicine (TKM) therapies for PCOS in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to identify the common symptoms, herbal prescription patterns and types of adjunctive treatment for treating polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in major traditional Korean medicine (TKM) hospitals. Methods: A retrospective chart review of PCOS patients was used for the study. The study involved the analysis of medical records (ICD-10, polycystic ovary syndrome: E28.2) from four TKM-based university hospitals in South Korea. Results: A total of 120 PCOS patients were analyzed. We found that PCOS patients had a wide range of symptoms, including menstrual irregularity, oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, acne, infertility, and metrorrhagia. The most commonly prescribed prescriptions for PCOS treatment were Chokyung-san (Tiaojing-san), Gamiguibitang (Jiawei Guipi-tang), and Changbudodam-tang (Cangfu Daotantang). In addition, patients were most oȻten treated with adjunctive acupuncture and moxibustion. Conclusion: Our study presents the major gynecological herbal prescriptions and other adjunctive therapies used for the treatment of PCOS in TKM-based hospitals. However, further pharmacological investigations and eȞfective clinical trials should be developed to ensure the objectivity of eȞficacy assessments. Keywords Herbal medicine; Polycystic ovary syndrome; Clinical practice based; Retrospective study