title: Traditional Chinese medicine diagnoses in persons with ketamine abuse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the distribution of TCM patterns in ketamine users and the inter-rater reliability of TCM diagnosis among TCM practitioners.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-four subjects recruited from substance abuse clinics and non-governmental counseling services catering for ketamine abusers were examined by one or two TCM practitioners. The distribution and inter-rater reliability of the TCM diagnoses between the two TCM practitioners were described and measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven TCM patterns were differentiated. The four most common patterns were the Heart Yin deficiency (29.8%), Kidney Yang deficiency (26.2% Kidney Yin deficiency (19.0%), and Spleen Yang deficiency (14.3%). The agreement between the two TCM practitioners was 59%; the kappa for the three most common patterns was 0.472 (P = 0.003). The proportion of men was lower in the Kidney Yin deficiency group (18.8%), in comparison to the Heart Yin deficiency (60.0%, P = 0.009) and Kidney Yang deficiency group (59.1%, P = 0.013).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The differences between the TCM groups in terms of the source of referral and number of drug uses other than ketamine were of borderline significance. Further research should focus on validating diagnostic tools and improving inter-rater reliability in TCM to enhance the quality of clinical trials of TCM treatments for ketamine abuse.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. tangwk@cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: Waikwong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Wingnang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Waizhu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Tszting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Gabor S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ungvari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007649:Ketamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology; D008099:Liver / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013154:Spleen / Q000503:physiopathology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016711:Yang Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016710:Yin Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007649:Ketamine