봉독약침이 류마티스 관절염 환자의 기능회복 및 삶의 질에 미치는 영향 = Effects of Bee Venom Acupuncture on the Rehabilitation and Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Objective: To evaluate the effects of bee venom acupuncture(BVA) on the rehabilitation and quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis(RA) patients
Methods: Patients with RA were treated with the BVA therapy twice a week for 3 months. Tender joint counts, swollen joint counts, morning stiffness, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate(ESR), C-reactive protein(CRP), patient global assessment, physician global assessment, Korean health assessment questionnaire(KHAQ) were estimated and analyzed before and after BVA therapy.
Results: Tender joint counts, swollen joint counts, morning stiffness showed significant decrease after BVA therapy. But, as acute inflammatory reactants, ESR showed no significant difference and CRP showed significant increase after BVA therapy. Patient global assessment physician global assessment, and KHAQ index showed significant improvement after BVA therapy.
Conclusions: BVA therapy can improve rehabilitation and health-related quality of life RA patients as well as clinical symptom and signs. Further study is required in more population with large scale including acute inflammatory reaction of BVA therapy.