Background/Aims: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is prevalent in East Asia. However, information on CAM in East Asian patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is scarce. We aimed to profile the prevalence and pattern of CAM use among East Asian IBD patients and to identify factors associated with CAM use. We also compared physicians’ perspectives on CAM. Methods: Patients with IBD from China, Japan, and South Korea were invited to complete questionnaires on CAM use. Patient demographic and clinical data were collected. Logistic regression analysis was applied for predictors of CAM use. Physicians from each country were asked about their opinion on CAM services or products. Results: Overall, 905 patients with IBD participated in this study (China 232, Japan 255, and South Korea 418). Approximately 8.6% of patients with IBD used CAM services for their disease, while 29.7% of patients sought at least 1 kind of CAM product. Current active disease and Chinese or South Korean nationality over Japanese were independent predictors of CAM use. Chinese doctors were more likely to consider CAM helpful for patients with IBD than were Japanese and South Korean doctors. Conclusions In 8.6% and 29.7% of East Asian patients with IBD used CAM services and products, respectively, which does not differ from the prevalence in their Western counterparts. There is a significant gap regarding CAM usage among different Asian countries, not only from the patients’ perspective but also from the physicians’ point of view.

The purpose of this study was to compare the climacteric symptoms and emotion of Korean women living in the United States and Korea. The 195 subjects consisted of 81 women who have lived for more than 10 years in the United States and 114 women who live in Korea. All the subjects were from 40 to 60 years of age. Data were collected by convenience sampling using a questionaire in the west and mid-west regions of the United States and in Kyungbuk province in Korea. The results of .this study are as follows: 1. Both subjects in the United States and Korea showed the highest negative emotions according to the following ; in the 50-54 years of age group, divorced, less than high school graduation, lower income level and Protestant in religion. So we concluded that the cultural differences between the United States and Korea did not exert an important influence on the women's emotional tendency, but personal characteristics and background did. 2. Emotional tendency of Korean women from 40 to 60 years of age living in United States and Korea was slight negative (Korean-American ; 3.97+/-.94, Korean ; 3.90+/-.71) 3. The emotions of women living in the United States showed a significant difference according to the state of health(F=3.7726, p<.05). The emotions of women living in Korea showed a significant difference according to marrital status(F=6.4733, p<.05). 4. There were negative correlations between the number of climacteric symptoms and emotions.
Climacteric* ; Divorce ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Protestantism ; United States*