Traditional medicine (TM) plays a significant role in healthcare either as part of the primary healthcare system or as an adjunct to conventional medicine. This study aimed to map systematic reviews (SRs) of TM modalities across health conditions and identify gaps in the research literature to facilitate priority setting in future TM research. We searched 17 databases from January 2018 to December 2022. Reviewers in pairs independently performed the database search, screened each record for inclusion, extracted data, and performed quality assessments using the AMSTAR 2 - A Measurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews. To be included in this evidence map, the studies had to be SRs of clinical studies that evaluated the effectiveness of a TM modalities. The included SRs were analyzed according to TM modality, ICD-11 disease classification, and health outcomes, and visualized using graphical plots. We retrieved 241,509 records. After excluding duplicate records, 181,616 titles and abstracts were screened and 20,856 records were selected for full-text assessment, of which 18,137 records were further excluded. The final 2719 included SRs were primarily in adults (2591) with only 128 SRs in the pediatric population. The most commonly evaluated health conditions were diseases of the digestive system, circulatory system, and genitourinary system, with herbal medicine (n = 1867) and acupuncture (n = 471) being the most investigated TM modalities in treating these illnesses. Based on AMSTAR 2 criteria, the methodology quality of the included SRs is considerably low. This evidence map provides a comprehensive overview of the extent and nature of the available research onTM modalities across health conditions. It provides an initial step towards characterizing the global evidence base and outlining gaps in the existing evidence. We regard this study as laying the basis for future research of TM modalities. The protocol of this map is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023416355).

Functional dyspepsia (FD) significantly reduces quality of life, and Korean medicine treatment, including herbal medicine, is frequently used in the clinical setting. We aimed to analyze the factors affecting Korean medicine health care (KMHC) use for FD. Data from the Korea Health Panel Survey 2017 were analyzed. Individuals aged > 19 years who were diagnosed with FD and used outpatient care were included. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association of predisposing, enabling, and need factors with KMHC use for FD, based on Andersen’s behavioral model. The best subsets of factors affecting KMHC use for FD were selected using a stepwise procedure. Participants aged 65 years or older were less likely to use KMHC to treat FD than those aged 19 to 34 years (odds ratio (OR), 0.14; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.02–0.93). Residents of Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, or Gyeongsang tended to use more KMHC to treat FD than those of Seoul, Gyeonggi, or Incheon (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.02–5.88). Participants with private health insurance were more likely to use KMHC to treat FD than those without private health insurance (OR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.02–11.42). The prediction model of KMHC use for FD selected sex, age, private health insurance, and stress as the best subset of factors (AUC, 0.709; 95% CI, 0.637–0.781). The results of this study will aid in the decision making of clinicians, researchers, and policymakers.

(1) Background: Various machine learning techniques were used to predict hypertension in Korean adults aged 20 and above, using a range of body composition indicators. Muscle and fat components of body composition are closely related to hypertension. The aim was to identify which body composition indicators are significant predictors of hypertension for each gender; (2) Methods: A model was developed to classify hypertension using six different machine learning techniques, utilizing age, BMI, and body composition indicators such as body fat mass, lean mass, and body water of 2906 Korean men and women; (3) Results: The elastic-net technique demonstrated the highest classification accuracy. In the hypertension prediction model, the most important variables for men were age, skeletal muscle mass (SMM), and body fat mass (BFM), in that order. For women, the significant variables were age and BFM. However, there was no difference between soft lean mass and SMM; (4) Conclusions: Hypertension affects not only BFM but also SMM in men, whereas in women, BFM has a stronger effect than SMM.

Abdominal examination (AE), one of the primary diagnostic tools used in traditional Korean medicine (TKM), has a limitation of being subjective due to depending on individual practitioner's experience. Therefore, we devised a novel patient-report pressure algometer (PA) and performed a clinical trial to investigate its validity. In total, 44 participants with functional dyspepsia and 44 healthy participants completed the study. The participants were allocated into one of two groups according to the existence of abdominal stiffness at 5 acupoints or abdominal tenderness at 12 acupoints diagnosed by TKM doctors. The pressure depth and pressure pain threshold (PPT) were evaluated using the PA at the same acupoints. We assessed the validity (sensitivity and specificity) of PA and calculated the area under the curve (AUC) and optimal cutoff value of the test variables (pressure depth and PPT) to criterion standards (abdominal stiffness and tenderness). Pressure depth and PPT assessed by PA showed high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing abdominal stiffness and tenderness. The validity at CV-14 of diagnosing abdominal tenderness with PPT by PA had a sensitivity of 73.1%, specificity of 77.8%, and an AUC of 0.807 with a P value of < 0.001. This study may provide evidence of standardization and quantification of AE through PA.

Background: Obesity imposes a significant socioeconomic burden owing to its high prevalence. In response to the adverse outcomes associated with conventional pharmacotherapy and the challenges of low adherence to lifestyle interventions, herbal medicine has surfaced as an actively utilized approach for weight loss. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the characteristics and influencing factors of herbal medicine users for weight loss in adults.Methods: Overall, 22,080 participants were included based on data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2010 to 2019. Simple logistic regression analyses were used to derive the associations between herbal medicine use for weight loss and individual characteristics. Three models were constructed utilizing multiple logistic regression analyses to assess the associations between herbal medicine use for weight loss and the combined characteristics of predisposing, enabling, and need factors according to Andersen’s model.Results: In the full adjustment model, women, younger adults, those with higher incomes, and individuals reporting higher levels of perceived stress were more prone to use herbal medicine for weight loss in the past year. Adults who identified body image as being fat/very fat, those who consumed alcohol, and those classified as severely obese by body mass index were also more prone to use herbal medicine for weight loss. In particular, adults with a higher rate and amount of weight loss in the past year were more likely to use herbal medicine for weight loss compared to those experiencing weight gain/no changes/loss of 0–3 kg.Conclusion: Our study was the first to derive the characteristics and influencing factors of herbal medicine users for weight loss among adults. These findings hold significant promise for informing future research endeavors and policy decision-making for effective resource distribution for obesity treatment.