Prescription patterns of herbal medicine for menopausal disorders in major Korean medicine hospitals: A multicenter retrospective study

This study aimed to obtain the symptom, prescription and therapeutic patterns for the treatment of patients with menopausal syndrome in major Korean medicine (KM) hospitals. We used a retrospective chart review of climacteric disorder and postmenopausal syndrome patients by examining medical records (ICD-10, menopausal and female climacteric states: N95.1, Menopausal and perimenopausal disorder, unspecified: N95.9) from eight university KM hospitals in South Korea. The main symptoms of 1,682 patients with menopausal disorders visiting 8 college-affiliated oriental medicine hospitals were hot flush, hyperhidrosis, fatigue, insomnia, and chest tightness. Guipi-tang (decoction), Siwu Guipi-tang (decoction), Qingxin Lianzi-yin (decoction), Jiawei Xiaoyao-san (powder) and Guipi Wendan-tang (decoction) were the most commonly prescribed herbal medicines for menopausal disorders. Patients were most often treated with a combination of herbal medicine and acupuncture. Our study shows that the current prescribed herbal medicines were used for treating menopausal disorders in Korean medicine hospitals. However, the objectivity of the efficacy assessment should be studied further.