In Korea, low back pain is the ailment that is most frequently treated using collaborative care regimens that include aspects of Western and traditional Korean medicine. As part of a national pilot project on the collaboration between Western and Korean medicine, we aimed to investigate the clinical effectiveness of collaborative treatment and compare it with treatment methods that involved only Korean or Western Medicine practices for patients with low back pain. This nationwide, multicenter, prospective, observational, and comparative study spanned 8 weeks, during which patients with low back pain were evaluated at three time points (at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks). The primary outcome was low back pain-related disability measured by the Oswestry Disability Index, while the secondary outcomes included severity of low back pain (as on a numeric rating scale) and quality of life (as per a 5-level EuroQol-5 dimensions questionnaire). We analyzed 150 patients (including 129 per-protocol cases) and found that the Oswestry Disability Index and 5-level EuroQol-5 dimensions showed statistically significant differences over time between the collaborative treatment group and the sole treatment group after adjusting for sex, income level, and age. Conversely, the numeric rating and EuroQol-visual analog scales showed no significant between-group differences over time. Based on our findings, we believe that collaborative treatment that includes parallelly administered aspects of Western and Korean medicine can benefit patients with low back pain by facilitating functional improvements and lead to a better quality of life.

The aim of this study is reviewing the literature to extract the key parameter, study design, perspective, cost-effectiveness index and find the calibration parameter for the clinical study with economical evaluation protocol on facial palsy. Methods: Literature search is performed using PUBMED for literature published from January 2000 to December 2016. We included randomized controlled trials(RCTs) and modelling study with economic assessment in which human participated. Results: As a result of literature search, the 198 articles were found. After reviewing the title, abstract and full text, the 5 articles were selected. Selected articles are classified into 4 RCT studies dealing with quality of life and 1 CEA(cost-effectiveness analysis) study. Conclusions: We found reliable key parameters, calibration parameters and elements of economical assessment study, which might be necessary factors for developing research protocol of clinical trial with economic evaluation about facial palsy patients.

No abstract

No abstract