Abstract
Background : With the increase of cooperative practices (CP) between conventional western medicine and traditional Korean medicine, there have been lots of researches on the status of CP and the attitude of doctors. Objective : Since most of the research is cross-sectional, this study aims to figure out the changes in the attitude of doctors toward CP through systematic review. Method : Systematic literature searches were performed on several databases in Korea. They were categorized according to the respondents and question items and analyzed by the context of questions, similarity of respondents and measurement scale. And we analyzed the changes of response regarding to doctors' awareness and attitude to CP. Results : Thirteen survey studies including attitude of doctors toward CP were selected. These studies were conducted between 1997 and 2009 and the number of respondents of each study ranged from 20 to 702. There has been increasing awareness of CP among doctors ; however the positive responses on the necessity of CP has decreased. Regarding the type of illness effectively treated employing CP, there was a shift from neurovascular to musculoskeletal and immune diseases. Most of the studies listed different approaches to disease, prejudice of health care providers and inadequate legal system as major obstacles against CP. Conclusion : In spite of the increase of CP in the last 20 years, there has not been marked positive change in the doctors' attitude toward CP. To promote CP, it is required to confirm the effectiveness of CP through disease models and change the medical legislation policies on CP.
