Study on the Relationship between Traditional Chinese Medicine Body Constitution and Chronic Diseases in the Older Population in the Downtown Area of Beijing

SHI Mai; LIU Zhaolan; XU Meiyan; CHEN Jie

Abstract：Objective:To evaluate the relationship between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) body constitu-tion and chronic diseases among the elder population in the downtown area of Beijing. Methods:There were 3 894 older people enrolled in this study and the TCM body constitution score form was applied to deter-mine the type of body constitution. The medical record and health examination record were reviewed to ob-tain the data on the chronic disease,and the social demographics were also investigated. Results:The preva-lence of chronic diseases in this population was 58.8%,the detection rate of unbalanced constitution was 71.5%. The major TCM body constitutions were qi deficiency (19.84%),phlegm dampness (9.97%) and damp heat(8.86%) in patients with hypertension;the major TCM body constitutions in patients with hyperlipidemia were phlegm dampness(13.31%),damp heat(9.39%);the major TCM body constitutions of patients with dia-betes were phlegm dampness(12.54%),damp heat(10.17%);the major TCM body constitutions of fatty liver patients were phlegm dampness (11.89%),damp heat (10.25%);the major TCM body constitutions of chronic gastritis were yang deficiency(16.07%);the major TCM constitution of cardiovascular disease patients was qi deficiency (33.48%);the major TCM body constitutions of stroke patients were qi deficiency (27.63%) and yang deficiency(22.37%);the major TCM constitutions of osteoporosis patients were blood stasis(16.38%) and yang deficiency (16.03%);the major TCM constitution of obesity was phlegm dampness (13.89%);the major TCM body constitution of bronchial asthma was phlegm dampness (12.70%);the major TCM body constitutions of allergic diseases were special diathesis type (13.79%). TCM body constitutions among those with chronic diseases were of statistical significance compared with the healthy older people ,P<0.001. The elder people with chronic disease showed differences in the distribution of TCM body constitutions (χ2=183.095,P<0.001). Conclusions:Chronic diseases in the elder people were related to the types of body constitution. Therefore ,health care in combination with TCM and western medicine should be applied for the elder people based on the types of body constitution.