Telemedicine and the use of Korean medicine for patients with COVID-19 in South Korea: Observational study

Soobin Jang; Dongsu Kim; Eunhee Yi; Gunhee Choi; Mideok Song; Eun Kyoung Lee

doi:10.2196/20236

Telemedicine and the use of Korean medicine for patients with COVID-19 in South Korea: Observational study

Soobin Jang
, Dongsu Kim
, Eunhee Yi
, Gunhee Choi
, Mideok Song
, Eun Kyoung Lee

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it has since spread worldwide. The Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM) established the COVID-19 telemedicine center of Korean medicine (KM telemedicine center) in Daegu and Seoul. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the results of the KM telemedicine center and the clinical possibility of using herbal medicines for COVID-19. Methods: All procedures were conducted by voice call following standardized guidelines. The students in the reception group obtained informed consent from participants and they collected basic information. Subsequently, Korean Medicine doctors assessed COVID-19-related symptoms and prescribed the appropriate herbal medicine according to the KM telemedicine guidelines. The data of patients who completed the program by June 30, 2020, were analyzed. Results: From March 9 to June 30, 2020, 2324 patients participated in and completed the KM telemedicine program. Kyung-Ok-Ko (n=2285) was the most prescribed herbal medicine, and Qingfei Paidu decoction (I and II, n=2053) was the second most prescribed. All COVID-19-related symptoms (headache, chills, sputum, dry cough, sore throat, fatigue, muscle pain, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, dyspnea, chest tightness, diarrhea, and loss of appetite) improved after treatment (P<.001). Conclusions: The KM telemedicine center has provided medical service to 10.8% of all patients with COVID-19 in South Korea (as of June 30, 2020), and it is still in operation. We hope that this study will help to establish a better health care system to overcome COVID-19.

Original language	English
Article number	e20236
Journal	JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2196/20236
Publication status	Published - Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Soobin Jang, Dongsu Kim, Eunhee Yi, Gunhee Choi, Mideok Song, Eun-Kyoung Lee. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 19.01.2021. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19
Guideline
Herbal medicine
Infectious disease
Korea
Korean medicine
Pandemic
Telehealth
Telemedicine

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10.2196/20236

Cite this

@article{5b275c6285e2424183f3cff9f70a1a0a,

title = "Telemedicine and the use of Korean medicine for patients with COVID-19 in South Korea: Observational study",

abstract = "Background: COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it has since spread worldwide. The Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM) established the COVID-19 telemedicine center of Korean medicine (KM telemedicine center) in Daegu and Seoul. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the results of the KM telemedicine center and the clinical possibility of using herbal medicines for COVID-19. Methods: All procedures were conducted by voice call following standardized guidelines. The students in the reception group obtained informed consent from participants and they collected basic information. Subsequently, Korean Medicine doctors assessed COVID-19-related symptoms and prescribed the appropriate herbal medicine according to the KM telemedicine guidelines. The data of patients who completed the program by June 30, 2020, were analyzed. Results: From March 9 to June 30, 2020, 2324 patients participated in and completed the KM telemedicine program. Kyung-Ok-Ko (n=2285) was the most prescribed herbal medicine, and Qingfei Paidu decoction (I and II, n=2053) was the second most prescribed. All COVID-19-related symptoms (headache, chills, sputum, dry cough, sore throat, fatigue, muscle pain, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, dyspnea, chest tightness, diarrhea, and loss of appetite) improved after treatment (P<.001). Conclusions: The KM telemedicine center has provided medical service to 10.8\% of all patients with COVID-19 in South Korea (as of June 30, 2020), and it is still in operation. We hope that this study will help to establish a better health care system to overcome COVID-19.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Guideline, Herbal medicine, Infectious disease, Korea, Korean medicine, Pandemic, Telehealth, Telemedicine",

author = "Soobin Jang and Dongsu Kim and Eunhee Yi and Gunhee Choi and Mideok Song and Lee, \{Eun Kyoung\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Soobin Jang, Dongsu Kim, Eunhee Yi, Gunhee Choi, Mideok Song, Eun-Kyoung Lee. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 19.01.2021. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.",

year = "2021",

month = jan,

doi = "10.2196/20236",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

journal = "JMIR Public Health and Surveillance",

issn = "2369-2960",

publisher = "JMIR Publications Inc.",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Telemedicine and the use of Korean medicine for patients with COVID-19 in South Korea

T2 - Observational study

AU - Jang, Soobin

AU - Kim, Dongsu

AU - Yi, Eunhee

AU - Choi, Gunhee

AU - Song, Mideok

AU - Lee, Eun Kyoung

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Soobin Jang, Dongsu Kim, Eunhee Yi, Gunhee Choi, Mideok Song, Eun-Kyoung Lee. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 19.01.2021. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

PY - 2021/1

Y1 - 2021/1

N2 - Background: COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it has since spread worldwide. The Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM) established the COVID-19 telemedicine center of Korean medicine (KM telemedicine center) in Daegu and Seoul. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the results of the KM telemedicine center and the clinical possibility of using herbal medicines for COVID-19. Methods: All procedures were conducted by voice call following standardized guidelines. The students in the reception group obtained informed consent from participants and they collected basic information. Subsequently, Korean Medicine doctors assessed COVID-19-related symptoms and prescribed the appropriate herbal medicine according to the KM telemedicine guidelines. The data of patients who completed the program by June 30, 2020, were analyzed. Results: From March 9 to June 30, 2020, 2324 patients participated in and completed the KM telemedicine program. Kyung-Ok-Ko (n=2285) was the most prescribed herbal medicine, and Qingfei Paidu decoction (I and II, n=2053) was the second most prescribed. All COVID-19-related symptoms (headache, chills, sputum, dry cough, sore throat, fatigue, muscle pain, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, dyspnea, chest tightness, diarrhea, and loss of appetite) improved after treatment (P<.001). Conclusions: The KM telemedicine center has provided medical service to 10.8% of all patients with COVID-19 in South Korea (as of June 30, 2020), and it is still in operation. We hope that this study will help to establish a better health care system to overcome COVID-19.

AB - Background: COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it has since spread worldwide. The Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM) established the COVID-19 telemedicine center of Korean medicine (KM telemedicine center) in Daegu and Seoul. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the results of the KM telemedicine center and the clinical possibility of using herbal medicines for COVID-19. Methods: All procedures were conducted by voice call following standardized guidelines. The students in the reception group obtained informed consent from participants and they collected basic information. Subsequently, Korean Medicine doctors assessed COVID-19-related symptoms and prescribed the appropriate herbal medicine according to the KM telemedicine guidelines. The data of patients who completed the program by June 30, 2020, were analyzed. Results: From March 9 to June 30, 2020, 2324 patients participated in and completed the KM telemedicine program. Kyung-Ok-Ko (n=2285) was the most prescribed herbal medicine, and Qingfei Paidu decoction (I and II, n=2053) was the second most prescribed. All COVID-19-related symptoms (headache, chills, sputum, dry cough, sore throat, fatigue, muscle pain, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, dyspnea, chest tightness, diarrhea, and loss of appetite) improved after treatment (P<.001). Conclusions: The KM telemedicine center has provided medical service to 10.8% of all patients with COVID-19 in South Korea (as of June 30, 2020), and it is still in operation. We hope that this study will help to establish a better health care system to overcome COVID-19.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Guideline

KW - Herbal medicine

KW - Infectious disease

KW - Korea

KW - Korean medicine

KW - Pandemic

KW - Telehealth

KW - Telemedicine

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DO - 10.2196/20236

M3 - Article

C2 - 33342765

AN - SCOPUS:85100263843

SN - 2369-2960

VL - 7

JO - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

JF - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

IS - 1

M1 - e20236

ER -

Telemedicine and the use of Korean medicine for patients with COVID-19 in South Korea: Observational study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

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