BACKGROUND: In 1997 the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (KAMJE) instituted a program to evaluate member journals. Journals that passed the initial evaluation were indexed in the KoreaMed. Here, we report changes in measures of quality of the KAMJE member journals during the last 20 years. METHODS: Quality measures used in the study comprised 3 assessment categories; self-assessment by journal editors, assessment of the journals by KAMJE reviewers, and by Korean health science librarians. Each used detailed criteria to score the journals on a scale of 0 to 5 or 6 in multiple dimensions. We compared scores at baseline evaluation and those after 7 years for 129 journals and compared improvements in journals indexed vs. not-indexed by the Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded; SCIE). RESULTS: Among 251 KAMJE member journals at the end of 2015, 227 passed evaluation criteria and 129 (56%) had both baseline and 7-year follow-up assessment data. The journals showed improvement overall (increase in median [interquartile range; IQR] score from baseline, 0.47 [0.64]; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44–0.61; P < 0.001) and within each category (median [IQR] increase by editor's assessment, 0.17 [0.83]; 95% CI, 0.04–0.26; P = 0.007; by reviewer's, 0.45 [1.00]; 95% CI, 0.29–0.57; P < 0.001; by librarian's, 1.75 [1.08]; 95% CI, 1.77–2.18, P < 0.001). Before the foundation of KAMJE in 1996, there were only 5 Korean medical journals indexed in the MEDLINE and none in SCIE, but 24 journals in the MEDLINE and 34 journals in SCIE were indexed by 2016. CONCLUSION: The KAMJE journal evaluation program successfully contributes improving the quality of the member journals.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Librarians ; Self-Assessment

Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; Female ; Humans ; Librarians ; Middle Aged

Systematic literature review. To review the evidence from high-quality studies regarding the treatment of neuropathic pain originating specifically from spinal disorders. In general, treatment guidelines for neuropathic pain cover all its various causes, including medical disease, peripheral neuropathy, and cancer. However, the natural history of neuropathic pain originating from spinal disorders may differ from that of the pain originating from other causes or lesions. An expert research librarian used terms related to neuropathic pain and spinal disorders, disc herniation, stenosis, and spinal cord injury to search in MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL for primary research from January 2000 to October 2015. Among 2,313 potential studies of interest, 25 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 21 systematic reviews (SRs) were included in the analysis. The selection was decided based on the agreement of two orthopedic surgeons. There was a lack of evidence about medication for radiculopathy arising from disc herniation and stenosis, but intervention procedures, including epidural block, showed positive efficacy in radiculopathy and also limited efficacy in spinal stenosis. There was some evidence based on the short-term follow-up regarding surgery being superior to conservative treatments for radiculopathy and stenosis. There was limited evidence regarding the efficacy of pharmacological and electric or magnetic stimulation therapies for neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury. This review of RCTs and SRs with high-quality evidence found some evidence regarding the efficacy of various treatment modalities for neuropathic pain related specifically to spinal disorders. However, there is a need for much more supportive evidence.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Librarians ; Magnetic Field Therapy ; Natural History ; Neuralgia* ; Orthopedics ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Radiculopathy ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Spinal Stenosis ; Surgeons

The purpose of this study was to collect basic information for the development of information interchange infrastructure of health research and development library in Korea. Domestic data was collected via mail and telephone survey and site visit of information producing and distributing organizations and agencies in the health related field. Data was analyzed and tabulated using descriptive statistics. Research and development activities of the National Library of Medicine were examined using materials posted on the internet. Content of data was reviewed and summarized. It was found that we lack a standardized Korean medical subject headings for the medical librarians to refer when indexing an article written in Korean. And most of academic societies lack a standardized vocaburary system for their members to refer when wrting an article.
Abstracting and Indexing as Topic ; Humans ; Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems ; Internet ; Korea ; Librarians ; Medical Subject Headings ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Postal Service ; Telephone

OBJECTIVES: Depression disturbs the individual life from the loss of productivity to suicide. Furthermore the whole society is also influenced by depression in social and economic areas. Many scientific treatment methods are known to be effective in depression. But in reality more than half of patients with depression prefer self help treatment rather than medically based treatment. For the patients with mild depression and primary physicians, it is reasonable to provide the evidence based self care including self help or alternative treatment. This study is supported by the Korean Health 21 R&D Project for the Depression Center to establish the Korean treatment guideline for depression. METHODS: The members of Depression Center including the authors attended the workshops where the methods of evidence based medicine such as literature search, quality evaluation of the articles, making the level of evidence were educated. The professional librarians helped the authors for get the searched articles. Among the total of 354 abstracts of systemic review and 300 abstracts of random controlled trials, 3 systemic reviews and 2 random controlled trials were the main structure of evaluation. RESULT: Among the 37 self care methods known to be effective for depression, 11 kinds of methods were worth of evaluation. The first step for the self care of mild depression is to use St. John's wort, exercise, bibliotherapy, and light therapy in depression during winter season. Acupuncture, negative ion therapy, massage, relaxation technique are known to be efective with evidence. Music therapy, hypnotherapy, and aromatherapy are known to be effective but until now the evidences is insufficient and further evaluations are needed. CONCLUSION: Among 11 listed self-care methods, several methods need more evidence especially in Korean situation. Exercise is the most recommendable evidence based self care method in Korea nowadays. St. John's wort is effective with evidence, but it is not the OTC drug in Korea, so it is not recommendable now. For the bibliotherapy, there is no book such as"Feeling Good"in Korea. Only the introductory book about depression is available. Publishing the self help book based upon cognitive behavioral approach or psychodynamic approach is needed. Light therapy is practiced in a few clinics, but not self-help style. Exposure to the sunlight is recommended in the level of commen sense. These self care methods are for the mild patient. Moderate to severe patients with depression should seek the professional treatment.
Acupuncture ; Aromatherapy ; Bibliotherapy ; Depression* ; Education ; Efficiency ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Humans ; Hypericum ; Korea ; Librarians ; Massage ; Music Therapy ; Phototherapy ; Relaxation ; Seasons ; Self Care* ; Suicide ; Sunlight