Experience of traditional East Asian medicine treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative study protocol

• Published in: European journal of integrative medicine 2023-06, Vol.60, p.102248, Article 102248
• Main Authors: Youn, Inae, Leem, Jungtae, Cheong, Moon Joo, Jang, Kwon-Jun, Kim, Dae-Young, Lee, Beom-Joon, Kim, Kwan-Il, Jung, Hee-Jae
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Chuna (tui-na); COPD; East Asian traditional medicine; Herbal medicine; Qualitative contents analysis
• ISSN: 1876-3820; 1876-3839
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eujim.2023.102248

•This qualitative study will be the first to engage in-depth exploration on perceptions and attitudes toward integrated traditional east asian treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.•An in-depth understanding of those patients can help providers improve integrative traditional east asian treatment services.•The results can be used in future research and health policies involved with this topic. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a high social and economic burden owing to its high morbidity and mortality. Conventional medical management strategies have several limitations including adverse effects. Therefore, strategies involving integrated traditional East Asian medicine (ITEAM) are currently being introduced and many clinical studies on ITEAM are being conducted. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no in-depth study on patients’ experiences and perceptions of ITEAM for treating COPD. We present a protocol for a qualitative study to investigate the experiences of patients with COPD. The study sample will include patients with COPD aged between 40 and 80 years, who have been treated with ITEAM. We will recruit 10 to 30 patients using purposive and snowball sampling. Using a semi-structured interview guide prepared in advance, in-depth, face-to-face interviews will be conducted. The collected data will be recorded and transcribed. The interview data will be subjected to qualitative content analysis to generate categories for the coding process. The findings will be disseminated through publication as an article in this journal, presentations at academic conferences, and development of clinical practice guidelines. An in-depth understanding of the experiences of patients with COPD who receive ITEAM treatment can help providers improve ITEAM treatment services. Additionally, the results of this study can be used as fundamental data in future large-scale clinical studies. Our results can also be used to inform health policies for integrated management of patients with COPD.