Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31694617›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2019

Complementary and alternative medicine use among infertile women attending infertility specialty clinics in South Korea: does perceived severity matter?

Jung Hye Hwang, Yi Young Kim, Hyea Bin Im, Dongwoon Han

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. The Application of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Infertility.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022
    Review
  10. Review
  11. Exploring Reproductive Health Education Needs in Infertile Women in Iran: A Qualitative Study.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2020
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jung Hye HwangDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Yi Young KimGraduate School of Public Policy, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
Hyea Bin ImDepartment of Global Health and Development, Graduate school, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
Dongwoon HanDepartment of Global Health and Development, Graduate school, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea. dwhan@hanyang.ac.kr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-8976
Hanyang University · KR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundComplementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among infertile women is popular in many countries, including Korea. Previous research has repeatedly found more than half of infertile women surveyed use CAM therapies for fertility enhancement and overall well-being. However, there is currently little evidence to support this practice, and this raises the question of infertile women's experiences in the uptake of those modalities and sociodemographic and psychological factors associated with CAM use. Thus, this study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of infertile women with regard to their use of CAM in Korea.

methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using data from 263 infertile women attending infertility specialty clinics in Seoul, Korea, in June 2012. The survey instrument included 47 questions on the use of CAM, demographic characteristics, health status, and infertility related factors such as duration and type of infertility, experience and satisfaction of conventional treatment, and self-perceived severity of infertility condition. Chi-square test and logistic regression were used for data analysis.

resultsAmong 286 respondents (response rate, 95.3%), a total of 263 women were included in the final analysis. 63.5% of respondents used one or more types of CAM modalities during infertility treatment. The utilization of CAM was associated with employment status, duration of infertility treatment, and self-perceived severity of the disease. The most commonly used CAM modalities were multivitamin and herbal medicine, and differences in types of CAM modalities used were found between the group with a higher rating of self-perceived disease severity and the lower perceived severity group.

conclusionsHigh prevalence of CAM use among infertile women was observed in Korea. Our findings support that infertile women's own understanding of their illness and physical condition influences self-care behavior such as CAM use. This calls for an urgent need for further in-depth study of the clinical effects of popular CAM modalities among infertile women when used in conjunction with conventional treatment.

Indexed as

AdultComplementary TherapiesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansInfertility, FemalePatientsPerceptionRepublic of KoreaSeverity of Illness IndexComplementary and alternative medicineInfertilityKoreaPerceived severity of illnessReproductive health

Identifiers

PMID31694617
PMCPMC6836421
OpenAlexW2984459644

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.