Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the health status of hospitalized North Korean refugees in a department of Korean internal medicine. Methods: From March 1st, 2011 to June 30th, 2014, 57 North Korean refugee patients were hospitalized 96 times in a department of Korean internal medicine. Their demographic and medical information was approached retrospectively. Results: Among the 57 North Korean refugees, 46 (80.7%) were women, 11 (19.3%) were men and their average age was 49.7. Except for 3 people, the other 54 (94.7%) have been to an outpatient hospital of Department of Western Medicine, National Medical Center. Orthopedics, Neurology and Gastroenterology were most frequently visited and hospitalized. Among the total 96 times of hospitalization in a Department of Korean internal medicine, low back pain was the majority chief complaint. Among the 96, 78 (80.4%) took herbal medicine and tonifying and replenishing formula (補益劑) was most frequently prescribed. As western medication, 32 (33.0%) took ones related to the musculo-skeletal system and 30 (31.0%) took ones related to the nervous system. Qi stasis was highest among 8 types of pattern identification and Deficiency pattern (虛症) was more frequent than Excess pattern (實證). Conclusions: There are several factors that have aggravated the health status of North Korean refugees, and Korean medicine can perform a proper role to improve their health.