Evaluation for effectiveness of oriental medicine-based infertility treatment and spontaneous pregnancy rate of infertile patients using systematic review

ABSTRACT

This study is to evaluate the effectiveness of oriental medicine-based infertility treatment and to examine the validity of the oriental medicine-based infertility treatment program through a systematic review. The literature search database included not only PubMed, DBpia, and RISS (Research Information Sharing Service) but also OASIS (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System) and Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal. Among 575 articles that searched, only three papers were randomized controlled trials and could be included for the evaluation of the effects of oriental medicine-based infertility treatment. There was no study showing the effectiveness of oriental medicine-based infertility treatment alone. Among 5,165 articles that searched, only 15 studies could be included for the evaluation of the natural pregnancy rate of infertile patients. These studies reported the natural pregnancy rates from 20.3% to 41.9%. As pregnancy rates ranged from 23.8% to 27.6% after the oriental medicine-based infertility treatment supporting programs, we cannot conclude that pregnancy rates for infertile patients might increase by this project. Therefore, there is a need to reconsider whether the oriental medicine-based infertility treatment program should continue in the future.