The Journal of Korean Medicine (대한한의학회지)

The Society of Korean Medicine (대한한의학회)
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Systemic Review of RCTs focusing on Chronic Fatigue

  • Son, Chang-Gue (Liver-Immune Center of Oriental Medicine College, Daejeon University)
  • Published : 2009.11.30
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Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to build an overview of randomized clinical controlled trials (RCTs) for chronic fatigue-related symptoms to extract the useful data for management of patients and development of therapeutics using Korean traditional medicine in the future. Methods: All RCT-derived papers for chronic fatigue-related symptoms were collected via PubMed Database. We surveyed elementary information of RCTs such as clinical question, study design, and its quality and results. Results: A total of fifty-three RCTs met these review criteria. Most of the RCTs were performed in Western countries, particularly the UK and USA. The major portion of RCTs focused on chronic fatigue syndrome using immune modulators, psychotherapeutic and anti-depressants. Five RCTs using complementary and alternative medicine, including herbal remedies, showed positive results. Conclusions: Fatigue-related symptoms are a main target of Oriental medicine. This study provides helpful information for planning clinical study of chronic fatigue-related symptoms using traditional Korean medicine.

Keywords

References

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