복부비만에 활용되는 침치료에 대한 국내외 연구동향

A Review of Clinical Studies on Acupuncture Application for Abdominal Obesity

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review current research trends and to provide basic data for the guideline of the acupuncture treatment for abdominal obesity in the clinic. Methods: Publications related to acupuncture treatment for abdominal obesity were retrieved from 9 databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean studies Information Service System, Research Information Sharing Service, DataBase Periodical Information Academic, National Discovery for Science Library). Extracted studies were analyzed in terms of publication year, study type, treatment method, acupoint and evaluation method. Results: There were 19 studies about acupuncture treatment applied to abdominal obesity. Electroacupuncture and acupoint catgut embedding therapy was the most frequently studied treatment method. ST25, CV12, SP15, CV6, CV4 was the most frequently used acupoint. Body weight, body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio was the most frequently used evaluation method. Conclusions: This review identified acupuncture application for abdominal obesity. However, well-designed and conducted clinical trials will be more needed to develop acupuncture treatment for abdominal obesity.