ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Family Medicine and Primary Care
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1611609
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Increasing Relevance of Traditional Medicine Systems for the Primary Health Care Sector and General Practice: Global Research Perspectives – Volume IIView all 24 articles
Korean Medicine Inpatient Care: Trends and Influencing Factors
Provisionally accepted
- Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
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Background: Despite the high preference and effectiveness of Korean medicine inpatient care (KMIC), including herbal medicine and acupuncture, South Korea's national health insurance coverage for Korean medicine remains limited, accounting for only 4% of the total national health insurance expenditures. We aimed to analyze the status and related factors of KMIC for better integration and resource allocation.This cross-sectional study included 1,362 inpatient care users from 2022 Korea Health Panel Survey data. To examine factors associated with the use of KMIC, weighted multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted using survey sampling weights based on Andersen's behavioral model. To summarize patient experiences, satisfaction, and KMIC or conventional medicine inpatient care (CMIC) use, weighted estimates were calculated using survey sampling weights.Results: Female gender (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 3.26 [1.18, 9.01]) and regular physical activity (2.15 [1.13, 4.09]) were associated with a greater likelihood of KMIC use. The likelihood of KMIC use was also greater in individuals aged 45-59 years than in those aged 19-44 years (3.11 [1.24, 7.79]), and in residents of Gwangju/Jeolla/Jeju than in those of Seoul/Incheon/Gyeonggi/Gangwon (7.35 [3.35, 16.13]). Moreover, individuals with poor/very poor perceived health status showed a greater likelihood of KMIC use than those with very good/good perceived health status (3.06 [1.05, 8.94]). Musculoskeletal disorders were the primary diagnosis for both KMIC and CMIC use. Patient satisfaction was rated as "very satisfied" or "satisfied" in 70%-82% of cases of KMIC use, except in the category of hospitalization costs. Conclusion: KMIC use was more common among females, individuals with poor subjective health status, and individuals engaging in regular physical activity. Patients primarily used KMIC for the treatment of accidents and musculoskeletal disorders and generally reported high levels of satisfaction.
Keywords: traditional medicine, Korean medicine, Hospitalization, Korea Health Panel Survey, health care utilization
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 03 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee, Yang and Yim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mi Hong Yim, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
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