The Relationship between Constitution of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the First Trimester and Pregnancy Symptoms: A Longitudinal Observational Study.

Qiaoyu Jiang,Guanghua Wang,Jing Wang,Jue Li

doi:10.1155/2016/3901485

Abstract

Objective. We report on the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution in the first trimester and on the association between TCM constitution and maternal symptoms related to pregnancy. Methods. Participants were followed up until delivery to observe primary measures (gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes mellitus) and secondary measures (signs of miscarriage, miscarriage, nausea and vomiting, and sleepiness and defecation during pregnancy). Descriptive analysis, t-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression analysis were used in this study. Results. 61.8% of the participants had unbalanced constitutions. We did not find a significant association between the TCM constitution and gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, miscarriage, signs of miscarriage, and defecation during pregnancy. And we found that women with unbalanced constitutions in early pregnancy had a greater likelihood of severe nausea and vomiting and poor sleep during pregnancy in the logistic regression analysis. Conclusions. These results have implications for female health care providers and policy makers. Identification of TCM constitution may be helpful for understanding nausea and vomiting and poor sleepiness during pregnancy, especially in the condition that can not be explained by modern medical science, and be helpful for making program to improve these uncomfortable symptoms.

Highlights

With pregnancy and the birth of every infant, women can suffer from many physiological changes
Women who participated in Pregnancy School held by the Zhabei District Maternity and Child Care Center between May and October 2013, who are aged 18 to 49 years, and whose gestational time was less than or equal to 12 weeks were asked to take part in an investigation of baseline information and evaluation of their traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution using the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) [4, 6]
We found that women with unbalanced constitutions in early pregnancy had a greater likelihood of severe nausea and vomiting and poor sleep during pregnancy

Summary

Introduction

With pregnancy and the birth of every infant, women can suffer from many physiological changes These changes may predispose them to develop uncomfortable symptoms and adverse outcomes, such as fatigue, dizziness, sleep disorders, nausea and vomiting, and defecation disorders. There are several unanswered questions: why do women with similar demographic and medical characteristics, as assessed by modern medicine, have different pregnancy symptoms and outcomes? TCM takes a global and dynamic view of human differences, believes that constitution is partly genetically determined and partly acquired, and classifies individuals’ constitution into nine types based on Chinese medical theory, multidisciplinary studies, and clinical practice. According to Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine the shape of the human body, function, psychology, and other characteristics, individual constitution can be assessed by the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) developed by Wang et al [4,5,6]. Unbalanced constitution means disharmony and can be viewed as an individual’s susceptibility to specific disease or symptoms

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion