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Background: Herbal medicines are empirically used to treat cervicogenic dizziness. However, till date there have been no systematic review to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these medicines. Therefore, this study protocol describes the methods for evaluating the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine for cervicogenic dizziness. Methods and analysis: The following electronic academic databases will be searched up to December 2019 without language or publication status restrictions: Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), together with Korean, Chinese, and Japanese databases. Any randomized controlled trials related to herbal medicine for cervicogenic dizziness will be included. The functional outcomes and the vertebrobasilar artery hemodynamic states will be evaluated as primary outcomes. The total effective rate, hematological conditions, and adverse events will be assessed as secondary outcomes. Study selection, data extraction, quality assessment of studies, and qualitative evaluation of clinical evidence will be performed by 2 independent reviewers. The methodological quality of the included studies will be evaluated using a revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. The strength of evidence from the included data will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. Data synthesis will be performed as either a fixed-effects or a random-effects model using Review Manager software version 5.3. The results will be reported as a risk ratio for dichotomous outcomes and as a mean difference or standardized mean difference for continuous outcomes. Ethics and dissemination: No ethical approval is required since the individual clinical information of the patient is not used. The findings of this systematic review will be disseminated through the peer-reviewed publications or conference presentations. Review Registry Unique Identifying Number: reviewregistry1036.

While stress is known to cause many diseases, there is no established method to determine individuals vulnerable to stress. Sasang typology categorizes humans into four Sasang types (So-Eum, Tae-Eum, So-Yang, and Tae-Yang), which have unique pathophysiologies because of their differential susceptibilities to specific stimuli, including stress. The purpose of this study was to determine if Sasang typology can be used identify individuals who are vulnerable to stress by evaluation of heart rate variability (HRV).This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 399 healthy men and women aged 30 to 49 years were recruited. Physical examinations for stress included HRV measurement and blood tests. The subjects also completed questionnaires about psychological stress, self-awareness, and lifestyle. HRV was analyzed using frequency-domain analysis. Subjects were divided into So-Eum (SE) and non-So-Eum (non-SE) groups according to their diagnosis.The weight and body mass index in the SE group were significantly lower than those in the non-SE group (both, P = .000). There were no significant between-group differences in any other demographic variables. In HRV analysis, the normalized high frequency (nHF) was higher (P = .008) while the normalized low frequency (nLF; P = .008) and LF:HF ratio (LF/HF; P = .002) were lower in the SE group than in the non-SE group.Although there was no difference in variables affecting HRV, HRV values were significantly different between groups. The LF/HF value for the SE group was at the lower limit of the normal range, although there were no associated clinical problems. These findings suggest that individuals with the SE type are more susceptible to stress than those with the other types. Thus, middle-aged individuals who are vulnerable to stress can be identified using Sasang typology.

INTRODUCTION Mibyeongbogam (MBBG) is a mobile application developed for subhealth status self-management in the Republic of Korea. It aims to assess a user's subhealth status, and then to recommend relevant traditional Korean medicine (TKM)-based health-promoting strategies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of MBBG's employment for the subhealth management of general healthy adults. METHODS This is a prospective, open-label, parallel group, randomized controlled trial that will seek to enroll 150 healthy adults, aged 30 to 49 years old, from 2 hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The eligible participants will then be randomly allocated to either the MBBG or control group, at a 1:1 allocation ratio. The MBBG group will use the application for 12 weeks, while the control group will undergo no intervention. The awareness of subhealth status will be primarily assessed. Health promoting behaviors, quality of life, TKM-based health questionnaires, and physical examination results will be assessed as secondary outcomes. DISCUSSION The primary endpoint will be tested with a 2-sample t test, or a Wilcoxon rank sum test. Any other continuous variables will be tested via an analysis of covariance, while categorical variables will be tested by a Chi-squared or Fisher exact test. Repeated measure analysis of variance will be performed to explore any in-group differences. The results will be addressed with a 95% confidence interval. We expect that MBBG will be the 1st TKM-based mobile application to be feasible for primary care in subhealth management. TRIAL REGISTRATION CRIS (Clinical Research Information Service), KCT0003488, February 11, 2019.