Lee, Eun-Kyoung;Chong, Myongsoo;Ryu, Young Jin;Kwon, Donghyun;Lee, Joonseok;Jang, Bo-Hyoung;Yun, Jin Won;Park, Yu Lee;Park, Haemo;Lee, Sundong;Ko, Seong-Gyu
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Objective : As part of the Korean Medicine Official Development Assistance(ODA) and Public Health Project, we implemented a obesity management program(OMP) using Korean medicine in Uzbekistan and its follow-up study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Method : We recruited the participants of whose Body Mass Index(BMI) were over $25kg/m^2$ and who agreed to participate in the program at the South Korea-Uzbekistan Friendship Korean Medical Hospital in Uzbekistan. The program consisted of auricular acupuncture, functional food, and education program on diet and exercise. It was provided once a week during 7-week period. Anthropometric measurements and blood test measuring total cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose were performed at the baseline, the end of the program, and 10-month follow-up. At the end of the program and the follow-up, survey on satisfaction and self-evaluation of the effectiveness of the program was additionally conducted. Results : 43 out of 78 participants completed the program and were included in the analysis. The analysis of the main outcomes showed that there were significant decreases in anthropometric measurements such as body weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI) and body fat content as well as blood test including triglycerides, total cholesterol and blood glucose levels. In the follow-up study, 24 subjects participated and 19 subjects (79.1%) reported that they succeeded in weight control. Furthermore, many participants reported that they maintained healthy lifestyles like healthy diet and regular exercise. The satisfaction with the program was also relatively high, and the education program was selected as the most motivating intervention for weight control. The outcomes such as body weight, BMI, body fat content, and blood glucose level were maintained to be at the decreased level; however, waist circumference, total cholesterol and triglycerides levels either returned back to the baseline level or were elevated to the level higher than the baseline. Conclusion : This study suggests that the OMP using Korean medicine may contribute to weight control of obese population in Uzbekistan. It is meaningful in that the study shows the possibility of implementing health promotion programs using Korean medicine in other countries with different cultures. In the future, more efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs using rigorous methodologies and utilize the effective programs in ODA project will be needed.