The Trend in Clinical Study on Atopic Dermatitis Over the Last 3 Years

아토피 피부염 임상 연구의 최근 3년간 동향

Objective : To observe the trend in clinical study on atopic dermatitis(AD) over the last 3 years in order to develop a study methodology of AD in Oriental Medicine. Methods : Using the Pub med on line site; search terms: atopic dermatitis, field as title/abstract, limitation as published in the last 3 years, only items with links to full text, Humans, Clinical Trial, English. I observed the study contents of all this research and focused on the classification of treatments. I also observed of AD clinical trials registered on a clinical trial site(www.clinicaltrial.gov) on 23rd of June, 2007: study contents, localization and study designs. Results : Through the Pub Med site, I found 169 articles. Classified according to study subject, the studies related to treatment were 114(67.5%); physiology, pathology and prevention 12(7.1%); Diagnosis and Evaluation(7.1%); psychological aspects including quality of life 10(5.9%); diet and management 10(5.9%); epidemiology 7(4.1%); and others 7(4.1%). However, the treatment study of herb-medicine as intervention showed only 1 article. Futhermore, it wasn't based on Oriental Medicine philosophy. In the clinical trial site, there were 31 studies in which patients were recruited or planned for the future. The study on efficacy and safety of the medicine produced 14 trials, 5 comparative trials, 2 phototherapy, 2 diagnosis, 6 physiology and pathology, and 2 epidemiology. The trial institutions were concentrated in U.S.A. Conclusion : I suggest we'd better try to make a good clinical guideline and standardization of diagnosis and herb-medicine in order to develop a clinical study methodology of AD as soon as possible in the future. Even though it 's very hard to find the study methodology, we should aim to achieve positive results and show the evidence of the efficacy and safety of herb-medicine treatment for AD using Oriental Medicine.