• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.109-121
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to find out the long-term effects of the self-help program through the follow-up with peer group meetings of arthritis patients. In order to fulfil the purposes, the follow-up program with peer group meetings was developed by researchers with consisting of monthly health contract, group discussion, group counseling, recreation, and exercise. This program was carried out 2-3 hours once in a month for 5 months (1999-2000) and evaluated in a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The subjects were 34 patients of experimental group and 24 of control group. The measurement tools of this study are pain rating scale(Lee & Song), KHAQ(Bae), rating scale of fatigue, and goniometer. The results of this study revealed no significant differences on number of pain site, fatigue, physical functioning, flexibility of the shoulder joints, and level of the extension of the knee joints between experimental group and control group. Whileas pain reaction of the control group was significantly high. However, the peers expressed very much their satisfaction and appreciations with the follow-up program with Peer group meetings. Actually, they wanted to have this peer group meeting continuously. This results suggested that the follow-up program with peer group meeting could be recommended as good nursing intervention to help the arthritis patients after having the Self Help Program in the community setting.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.193-198
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to observe the effect of Cordyceps Militaris(CM) complex extract treatment on patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis(RA). We reviewed medical records of 9 rheumatoid arthritis patients who visited the pain & rehabilitation center, Daejeon Korean Medicine Hospital of Daejeon University and were treated with CM complex extract from October 14, 2019 to October 14, 2020. We analyzed the records of DAS 28(Disease Activity Score 28), CDAI(Clinical Disease Activity Index), SDAI(Simplified Disease Activity Index), VAS(Visual analogue Scale), and KHAQ-D(Korean Health Assesment Questionnaire-Disability Index) before and after treatment to evaluate the effects of CM complex extract on RA. As a result, the scores of DAS 28(p<0.05), CDAI(p<0.01), SDAI(p<0.01) and VAS(p<0.01) were statistically significantly decreased, after 8 weeks of taking CM complex extract in RA patients. In conclusion, CM complex extract treatment may have potential effects of reducing disease activity and pain and improving quality of life in patients diagnosed with RA.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.17-26
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• 2005

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between assessment measurements of knee osteoarthritis and obesity. Methods : Data on assessment measurements of knee osteoarthritis and obesity were obtained from 63 patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis from February to April, 2005. The assessment measurements consisted of BMI (body mass index), WHR (waist-hip ratio), two disease-specific questionnaires (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) index and Lequesne's Functional Severity Index (LFI)), one generic instrument (Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire (KHAQ)), and VAS (Visual Analogue Scale). Statistical correlations among assessment measurements were evaluated by examining the Pearson's correlation coefficients. Results : 1. The sexual ratio in this study was 1: 5.3 (male: female= 10: 53). The average age of all patients was $59.1{\pm}6.6$ (male: $58.3{\pm}7.1$, female: $59.2{\pm}6.5$), and the group of 60-69 (34 patients, 54%) was biggest in the age distribution. 2. The average BMI of all patients was $25.4{\pm}3.1\;kg/m^2$ (male: female= $23.6{\pm}2.6\;kg/m^2:\;25.8{\pm}3.0\;kg/m^2$), and the group of $20-25\;kg/m^2$ was biggest in the BMI distribution. According to clinical definition of obesity by WHO (1997), 52.4% of all patients was within normal weight, 42.9% was overweight, and 4.8% was obese. 3. The average WHR of all patients was $0.91{\pm}0.06$ (male: female= $0.90{\pm}0.05:\;0.92{\pm}0.06$). According to definition of abdominal obesity, 73.0% of all patients (46 patients were all female) was in the state of abdominal obesity. 4. There were no significant correlations in statistics among assessment measurements except between BMI and WHR. Conclusion : Though there is significant correlation between knee osteoarthritis and obesity according to many clinical and experimental researches, there is no assessment measurement reflecting knee osteoarthritis and obesity simultaneously. For this, further studies on correlation between knee osteoarthritis and obesity and development of assessment measurement or questionnaire on this are needed.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.52
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• pp.346.1-346.11
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• 2018

Background: To evaluate the therapeutic benefits of the treat-to-target (T2T) strategy for Asian patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Korea. Methods: In a 1-year, multicenter, open-label strategy trial, 346 patients with early RA were recruited from 20 institutions across Korea and stratified into 2 groups, depending on whether they were recruited by rheumatologists who have adopted the T2T strategy (T2T group) or by rheumatologists who provided usual care (non-T2T group). Data regarding demographics, rheumatoid factor titer, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody titer, disease activity score of 28 joints (DAS28), and Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire (KHAQ) score were obtained at baseline and after 1 year of treatment. In the T2T group, the prescription for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs was tailored to the predefined treatment target in each patient, namely remission (DAS28 < 2.6) or low disease activity (LDA) ($2.6{\leq}DAS28$ < 3.2). Results: Data were available for 163 T2T patients and 162 non-T2T patients. At the end of the study period, clinical outcomes were better in the T2T group than in the non-T2T group (LDA or remission, 59.5% vs. 35.8%; P < 0.001; remission, 43.6% vs. 19.8%; P < 0.001). Compared with non-T2T, T2T was also associated with higher rate of good European League Against Rheumatism response (63.0% vs. 39.8%; P < 0.001), improved KHAQ scores (-0.38 vs. -0.13; P = 0.008), and higher frequency of follow-up visits (5.0 vs. 2.0 visits/year; P < 0.001). Conclusion: In Asian patients with early RA, T2T improves disease activity and physical function. Setting a pre-defined treatment target in terms of DAS28 is recommended.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1224-1233
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• 2018

Background/Aims: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of add-on therapy with certolizumab pegol (CZP) in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients of a single ethnicity. Methods: In this 24-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, eligible patients (n = 127) were randomized 2:1 to subcutaneous CZP + methotrexate (MTX; 400 mg at week 0, 2, and 4 followed by 200 mg every 2 weeks) or placebo + MTX. Results: At week 24, the American College of Rheumatology criteria for 20% (ACR20) response rate was significantly greater with CZP + MTX than with placebo (66.7% vs. 27.5%, p < 0.001). Differences in ACR20 response rates for CZP vs. placebo were significant from week 1 (p < 0.05) and remained significant through week 24. The CZP group reported significant improvement in physical function and disability compared to the placebo group (p < 0.001) at week 24, as assessed by Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (KHAQ-DI). Post hoc analysis indicated that the proportion of patients who had ACR70 responses, Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) low disease activity, and DAS28 remission at week 24 was greater in CZP + MTX-treated patients who achieved a decrease in DAS28 ${\geq}1.2$ (43.8%) at week 4 than in nonresponders. Among 18 (22.2%) and 14 patients (35.0%) in CZP and placebo groups who had latent tuberculosis (TB), none developed active TB. Most adverse events were mild or moderate. Conclusions: CZP treatment combined with MTX in active RA patients with moderate to severe disease activity and an inadequate response to MTX resulted in rapid onset of efficacy, which is associated with better clinical outcome at week 24 and has an acceptable safety profile, especially in an intermediate TB-burden population.