Abstract
Objectives: This study is performed to investigate the use of oriental medicine on pediatric outpatients with atopic dermatitis(AD). Methods: The study was carried out with 267 AD outpatients who visited the Department of Pediatrics, Oriental Medical Hospital from January 2010 to May 2011 and was completed by reviewing patients' chart. Results: The relative frequency of AD on the oriental pediatrics hospital was 6.8%. In a sexual distribution, the male children were more frequent than the females. In an age distribution, atopic dermatitis children visited the hospital were the most frequent in the age from 3 to 10. The highest frequency that started the oriental therapy after the outbreak of AD was from 1 month to 1 year. Approximately, 49.4% of the children who visited hospital relied on western medicine in treating their atopic dermatitis. The therapeutic effect of the oriental medicine was found to be excellent in 47.9%, no change was seen in 16.9%, and aggravation was seen in 3.4% of the patients. Less than a month of oriental treatment was the most common. The improvement depending on the length of the treatment was found to be 91.8% in more than 3 months, and 21.8% in less than 1 month. The use of the herbal medicine and herbal external treatment was seen in 67.4% and the therapeutic effect was improved in 63.3% of the patients. Conclusions: Considering the results, we can improve accommodation of oriental therapies for the pediatric outpatients with atopic dermatitis, and enhance the doctor-patient relationship to help the children with atopic dermatitis.
