Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Study and the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Disease in Taiwan Population

Aim: Several questionnaires have been developed for clinical research in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The objective of this study is to evaluate the consistency and relevance of two questionnaires, the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) and the Body Constitutions Questionnaire (BCQ).

Method: Between December 2015 and December 2016, a sample of 150 participants aged above 20 years from the Chinese Medical University "elder college" curriculum and outpatients at the Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan, will be interviewed to complete both questionnaires based on subjective symptoms in a 3-d interval. There are three common patterns of body constitutions in CCMQ and BCQ: gentleness/plain, Ying-deficiency, and Yang-deficiency. As for other body constitutions, Qi-deficiency, phlegm-dampness, dampness-heat, blood-stasis, Qi-depression, and special diathesis are described only in CCMQ, while stasis is a feature only defined in BCQ. Average and standard deviation will be used to describe the measurement scores of the questionnaires and the percentages of constitution distribution. Statistical analysis of the Kappa value, Pearson Chi-Square, odds ratio, and Pearson's correlation coefficient would be employed to examine the consistency and association between the two questionnaires.

Expected result: The investigators hope to 1) describe the constitution profile of the study population; 2) assess the consistency between two questionnaires; and 3) examine the associations between CCMQ and demographic life style factors.