• Yeona Kim, Sang-Hyun Won, Kyung-Nam Bae, Jungsoo Lee, Kihyuk Shin, Hoonsoo Kim, Hyun-Chang Ko, Moon-Bum Kim, and Byung Soo Kim.
• Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2023 Jul 3; 38 (26): e204e204.

BackgroundPatients with long-standing psoriasis who are not treated with conventional medicine seek complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The biological revolution in the field of psoriasis since the late 2000s has progressed, expecting clearance or almost clearance of the disease. The frequency and type of CAM usage may have changed after these advances. We aimed to investigate changes in CAM use in Korean patients with psoriasis before and after the prevalent use of biologics.MethodsPatients with psoriasis who visited Pusan National University Hospitals (Busan and Yangsan) between March 2020 and June 2022 were made to complete a face-to-face structured questionnaire. These results were compared with our previous study conducted approximately 10 years ago.ResultsIn total, 207 patients were included. Compared with the previous results, the frequency of CAM use (67.6%) increased (P < 0.001). Oriental medicine (67.1%) has most commonly been used, followed by health supplements and bath therapy. The biggest reason for using CAM was "to try all the potential treatments." Meanwhile, negative concerns about conventional medicine (13.5%) significantly decreased during the 10-year period (P < 0.001).ConclusionAlthough treatment efficacy has increased with biologics development, CAM usage remains prevalent among Korean patients with psoriasis. Therefore, dermatologists need more efforts to improve patients' understanding of conventional medicine, including biologics.© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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