Feasibility of Applying the OMOP Common Data Model to Traditional Eastern Asian Medicine Dataset.

To evaluate the feasibility of applying the Observational Medical Outcome Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM) to databases of traditional East Asian medicine (TEAM), we composed a TEAM dataset and transformed it to the OMOP CDM. We found that some important TEAM information entities could not be transformed to the OMOP CDM (version 6.0) data fields. We suggest to develop data fields and guideline for transforming TEAM data to the OMOP CDM.

The association between cold hypersensitivity in the hands and feet and chronic disease: results of a multicentre study.

BACKGROUND: Cold hypersensitivity in the hands and feet (CHHF) is a common symptom in Korea and patients with CHHF complain of coldness in the hands and feet in an environment that is not considered cold by unaffected people. In traditional East Asian medicine, CHHF is believed to be accompanied by various diseases and symptoms, and is considered a symptom that needs active treatment. CHHF is used for pattern identification in the cold pattern, yang deficiency, and constitution. This study aimed to examine the differences in frequencies of chronic diseases with respect to the presence of CHHF. METHODS: Disease history, CHHF, body measurements, and blood test survey data from 6149 patients collected by 25 medical institutes in Korea were obtained from the Korean Medicine Data Center. The participants were divided into CHHF (n = 1909) and non-CHHF groups (n = 3017) according to the CHHF survey. The differences in frequencies of 18 diseases were analysed using chi-square tests, and the odds ratios (ORs) for each disease according to CHHF status were examined via logistic regression with adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Based on chi-square test results, the CHHF group showed a higher frequency of the following diseases: anaemia, hypotension, chronic gastritis, reflux oesophagitis, chronic rhinitis, dysmenorrhoea, and gastroduodenal ulcer. Diseases found in lower frequencies were as follows: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, impaired fasting glucose, dyslipidaemia, stroke, fatty liver, and angina pectoris. In addition, from the logistic regression with adjustment for age, sex, and BMI, the CHHF group showed a lower OR in diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia than the non-CHHF group, but a higher OR in degenerative arthritis, chronic gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcer, reflux oesophagitis, and chronic rhinitis. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that CHHF is associated with chronic disease. Further large-scale prospective studies are needed to validate these associations.

Developing an optimized cold/heat questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: The cold/heat questionnaire is one of the most actively developed patient diagnostic tools in traditional Korean medicine (hereafter abbreviated as TKM) because of its objectivity. Unfortunately, the existing questionnaires contain too many items to hold the respondent's attention. In the current study, we aimed to develop an optimized cold/heat questionnaire to be used as a complement to the existing questionnaires. METHODS: We developed a new cold/heat questionnaire based on a domain analysis of the existing questionnaires. The questionnaire's reliability was examined via two test-retest reliability analyses involving 1890 individuals in November 2013 and February 2014. Its validity was examined using a professional cold/heat diagnosis kappa value. RESULTS: The new cold/heat questionnaire consisted of a total of seven items, which were created based on an analysis of the existing questionnaires. A reliability analysis performed using the study participants revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.609, 74.5% agreement with professional cold/heat diagnoses by TKM practitioners, and a kappa value of 0.487. CONCLUSION: In the current study, we developed an optimized cold/heat questionnaire. The level of agreement between the questionnaire and professional cold/heat diagnoses by TKM practitioners was significant, which indicates great potential for its widespread use as a diagnostic tool in TKM.