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Published on: May 16, 2025
Factors Associated with the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Korean Patients with Rheumatoid
Minkyung Han1, Yoon-Kyoung Sung1, Soo-Kyung Cho1
1From the Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Seoul; Department of Rheumatology, Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Seoul; Department of Rheumatology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Guri; Department of Rheumatology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul; Department of Rheumatology, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu; Department of Rheumatology, Dong-A University Hospital, Busan; Department of Rheumatology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul; Department of Rheumatology, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul; Department of Rheumatology, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Seoul; Department of Rheumatology, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang; Department of Rheumatology, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju; Department of Rheumatology, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan; Department of Rheumatology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon; Department of Rheumatology, Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju; Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.M. Han, MPH, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis; Y.K. Sung, MD, PhD, MPH, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Department of Rheumatology, Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases; S.K. Cho, MD, PhD, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Department of Rheumatology, Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases; D. Kim, MD, PhD, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Department of Rheumatology, Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases; S. Won, MPH, PhD, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis; C.B. Choi, MD, PhD, MPH, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Department of Rheumatology, Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases; S.Y. Bang, MD, PhD, Department of Rheum
Objective:
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that is often painful and debilitating. Patients with RA are increasingly receiving complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). We aimed to identify the patient characteristics and disease-specific factors associated with Korean patients with RA who decide to start treatment with CAM.
Methods:
Among the total 5371 patients with RA in the KORean Observational study Network for Arthritis (KORONA), 2175 patients who had no experience with CAM were included in our study. In our study, we assessed the frequency of new incident CAM use, its patterns, and the predictive factors of new CAM use.
Results:
Of the 2175 patients, 229 patients (10.5%) newly started receiving CAM within a year of enrolling in the cohort. Of those who started treatment with CAM, 17.0% received only herbal medicine, 54.6% only acupuncture treatments (7.0% used a combination of both), and 21.4% "Other" (e.g., physical therapy and placental extract injections). Women (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.13-3.14) and patients with depression (OR 3.52, 95% CI 1.65-7.50) were significantly more likely to be treated with CAM. Regarding household types, patients who lived in an extended family (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.08-2.95) or as part of a couple (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.07-2.24) were more likely to be treated with CAM than patients living in a nuclear family.
Conclusion:
Our study found, within a year, an incidence rate of 10.5% for new CAM use among patients with no previous experience with CAM. Sex, depression, and household type were significantly associated with new CAM use.
