Factor analysis on symptoms and signs of chronic low-back pain based on Traditional Chinese Medicine theory.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to use factor analysis to explore patterns of symptoms and signs from patients with chronic low-back pain (CLBP) based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory. DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND SUBJECTS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 513 patients with CLBP in four hospitals affiliated with Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures comprised 31 symptoms and signs on a six-level self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: Four (4) factors were extracted. They were eventually interpreted as (1) "Qi and/or Blood Stagnation," which includes eight items such as piercing pain; activity limited by feeling of local heaviness, lumbar and flank stiffness with bending limitation and purple tongue, etc.; (2) "Cold/Damp," which has seven items (for example, Cold/Damp pain, pallid face and greasy coating, etc.); (3) a part of "Kidney Deficiency," which includes two items: "dull pain and recurrent vague pain"; (4) "Warmth/Heat," which is related to three items (namely, purple tongue, yellow tongue coating, and burning pain). The four factors accounted for 12.7%, 8.2%, 8.2%, and 7.8% of the total variance, respectively. There are seven items with uniqueness over 0.8. CONCLUSIONS: Four (4) TCM major groups of pathophysiology could explain 37% of variance of 31 symptoms and signs of the CLBP patients. Thirteen (13) items are not groupable.

Impaired glucose regulation in a Sherpa indigenous population living in the Everest region of Nepal and in Kathmandu Valley.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of impaired glucose regulation status in Sherpa adults living in the Everest area and in Kathmandu valley. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Chaurikharka village (Everest area) and Kathmandu city on 119 and 121 randomly selected individuals, aged 30-70 years. They were assessed on conventional risk factors for diabetes, and an oral glucose tolerance test was performed. Based on the 2003 American Diabetes Association criteria, the prevalence in the Kathmandu city and Everest region of any impaired glucose regulation (IGR), isolated impaired fasting plasma glucose (isolated IFG), isolated impaired glucose tolerance (isolated IGT), and combined isolated IFG and isolated IGT were 55.4% vs. 23.5%, 42.1% vs. 14.3%, 1.7% vs. 0.8%, 11.6 vs. 8.4%, respectively. Using the subjects with normal glucose tolerance as the referent group and after adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, calories, and waist circumference, the odds ratios for isolated IFG and combined isolated IFG and isolated IGT of living in the highland region were 0.19 (0.08-0.44) and 0.33 (0.09-1.18), respectively. Isolated IFG was more common among the lowland Sherpas. Unlike combined isolated IFG and isolated IGT, this isolated IFG difference could not be explained by the difference of conventional diabetes mellitus risk factors.