Validation of the constitution in Chinese medicine questionnaires with the newly developed blood-vacuity category: a rare Taiwanese case study

Abstract

The concept of body constitution (BC) is a core notion in traditional Chinese medicine, used in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention; however, there is little standardization in terms of definitions and measurements. To improve standardization, constructive questionnaires have been developed to classify the various BC types. One of the most commonly used is the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ). Despite including nine BCs, CCMQ lacks the blood-vacuity constitution, although it is often noted in clinical practice. In this study, we have modified the original CCMQ to include the blood-vacuity constitution and amended the language to better suit the Taiwan population. The revised questionnaire was given to a panel of experts to check for content validity, and then distributed to volunteers for completion. The reliability analysis, based on 512 valid questionnaires, achieved a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.65–0.86. The content validity index scores ranged from 60 to 100. In addition, we collected demographic data from our volunteers and found that BMI, gender, exercise frequency, disease status, allergies, and psychiatric disorder status may impact the body constitution. Collectively, our study presents an expanded version of the CCMQ which includes the blood-vacuity constitution, and has been validated among the Taiwanese population. Demographic data also demonstrates possible relationships among BC, lifestyle and diseases.