An Observation Study on Parkinson’s Disease Patients Visiting a Korean Medicine Hospital

To evaluate real-world utilization patterns and short-term clinical changes associated with Korean medicine (KM) treatments in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this single-arm prospective observational study, 24 idiopathic PD patients were enrolled from September to November 2024. Patients were primarily classified as having qi–blood deficiency, with additional yang deficiency in 12 patients (52.2%) and kidney-yang deficiency in 1 patient (4.3%). Individualized KM treatments—including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and temporomandibular joint balancing therapy (TBT)—were provided. UPDRS Parts II and III, EQ-5D-5L index, and EQ-VAS were assessed at baseline and after 4 weeks. Twenty-three patients completed follow-up. Utilization rates were 95.7% for acupuncture, 91.3% for herbal medicine, and 43.5% for TBT. Most patients (91.3%) received multimodal KM treatment, with 47.8% receiving acupuncture plus herbal medicine and 43.5% receiving acupuncture, herbal medicine, and TBT. UPDRS II improved from 9.87 ± 5.57 to 8.04 ± 5.64, and UPDRS III from 14.35 ± 10.12 to 11.13 ± 9.67 (both p<0.001). EQ-5D-5L index improved from 0.76±0.10 to 0.80±0.07 (p=0.016), while EQ-VAS increased from 68.91±16.92 to 71.74±14.74 (p=0.342). KM treatments—particularly when delivered as multimodal therapy—were associated with short-term improvements in motor function and modest gains in quality of life in PD patients. Larger controlled studies are needed to validate these findings.