The Relation Between Constitutional Types and Indices of Tongue, Pulse,and Ausculative Diagnosis

Constitution differentiation is important for the prescription of Chinese medicines. In previous studies, researchers usually used constitutional questionnaires to determine constitutions.However, the importance of tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis remained unclear. The specific aim of this study is to evaluation indices of tongue diagnosis, auscultative diagnosis, and pulse diagnosis in the determination of constitutions. Meeting of specialists will determine the characteristics for each constitution first. This study plans to recruit 200 volunteers and determine their constitutions by constitutional questionnaires. Tongue manifestations and pulse pressure waveforms will be taken at the same time by standardized instruments. Relations between the indices and each constitution will be determined by multiple linear regression and logistic regression analysis. Then the percentage of importance of a specific index in a specific constitutional type could be determine.