Abstract
This study aimed to establish a method for fast and accurate determination of body constitution types from the body constitution questionnaire (BCQ) by employing a decision tree model. The model was trained for 4 classes, namely, Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, Phlegm and Blood Stasis, and Normal, and it achieved 67% accuracy for the testing dataset. The model also reduced the required number of BCQ questions from 44 to 3–6, depending on the responses. Lastly, we developed the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) body constitution online diagnosis system using our model to collect data digitally and use it more practically and efficiently. This system can assist doctors to improve the diagnosis and treatment in TCM practice.
Highlights
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practice, body constitution (BC) is the core theoretical basis for determining an individual’s health status. e BC type affects individuals’ susceptibility to specific diseases and strongly influences their prognoses. erefore, being able to quickly and accurately determine a patient’s BC is an important issue in TCM clinical practice
Decision tree algorithms are appropriate for this process as they can address a large amount of variable information to obtain more precise and accurate classifications. e algorithms can handle incomplete data
TCM traditionally relies on subjective information—including the physician’s perception and the patient’s chief complaint—to reach a clinical diagnosis [2, 3]. erefore, the objectivity of diagnosis in TCM practice and its scientific basis have often been contested [4]
Summary
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practice, body constitution (BC) is the core theoretical basis for determining an individual’s health status. e BC type affects individuals’ susceptibility to specific diseases and strongly influences their prognoses. erefore, being able to quickly and accurately determine a patient’s BC is an important issue in TCM clinical practice. Erefore, being able to quickly and accurately determine a patient’s BC is an important issue in TCM clinical practice. Erefore, decision tree algorithms can help clinicians determine the relationship between symptoms/signs and syndromes, thereby improving the syndrome differentiation and treatment process in TCM. We used the decision tree algorithm to optimize the process of using the TCM BCQ to determine patients’ BC type. Erefore, the objectivity of diagnosis in TCM practice and its scientific basis have often been contested [4]. To address this issue, several efforts have been made to improve TCM diagnosis methods. Because the BC type determines an individual’s susceptibility to specific diseases and has prognostic relevance, it is used to guide treatment and disease-prevention measures [7]. Clinical studies using the BCQ [9, 10] have reported promising results in recent years, these studies only evaluated and compared the questionnaires without addressing their ease of use
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