title: The correlation between pulse diagnosis and constitution identification in traditional Chinese medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our study aimed to correlate pulse wave parameters such as augmentation index (AI) and heart rate variability with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution for evaluating health status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Out of 177 subjects, 69 healthy subjects were enrolled in the present study, and others were excluded because of cardiovascular, liver, kidney, or other diseases. Each subject was invited to complete pulse wave examination and the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire. Independent Student's t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, and binary logistic regression analysis were used to analyse the correlation between pulse wave parameters and TCM constitution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Qi-deficient individuals had higher AI (p=0.006) and lower diastolic blood pressure (p=0.011); yang-deficient individuals had lower dP/dt max (p=0.030), systolic blood pressure (p=0.020), and pulse pressure (p=0.048); and damp-heat individuals had higher subendocardial viability index (SEVI) scores (p=0.011). We then categorized the phlegm dampness and yang-deficiency individuals into the cold group and those with damp-heat and yin-deficiency into the heat group. A comparison of the two constitution groups showed higher AI in the cold group (p=0.026). Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that only AI was a determinant, as evidenced by the finding that an increase of one unit in AI corresponded to an increase of 5% in the odds ratio for individuals to have a cold constitution (p=0.026).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individuals with qi-deficient and cold constitutions had higher AI and lower SEVI, potentially reflecting an increase in arterial stiffness. This study can provide a basis for further investigation of the physiological indicators of TCM constitutions in modern medicine.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chinese Medicine, Taiwan Landseed Hospital, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Han-Kuei
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Shien
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan; The Internal Medicine and Health Examination Center at the Taoyuan Branch, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Sheng
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Mathematics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Hau-Tieng
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering, National United University, Miaoli, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tung-Hu
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, and Research Center for Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Departments of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: tcmchh55@mail.cmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Hen-Hong
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019413:Qi; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Constitution; Pulse wave analysis; Traditional Chinese medicine