A retrospective database analysis of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma have common characteristics both in terms of their pathology and clinical symptoms, but whether they share the same traditional Chinese medicine syndromes (TCMS) is unclear. This study compared the distribution of TCMS for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma by using a large data set of clinical records which would reflect real world practice. Methods: Electronic medical records were used from five hospitals in China between 2012 and 2016. A total of 26,074 subjects with complete medical records were available for data analysis. Frequencies and multinomial logistic regressions (LR) were conducted to determine independent and significant TCMS associated with COPD or asthma compared to a shared reference of other respiratory diseases. Bivariate association analyses were conducted to estimate shared TCMS for the two diseases by using general linear model. Results: Multinomial LR showed that Tan_Re_Yong_Fei was independently and significantly associated with both COPD and asthma (P < 0.001 for both). Similarly, Fei_Shen_Qi_Xu had a significant, independent, and respective association with the two diseases (P < 0.001 for both). Bivariate associated analyses indicated that the Shi TCMS (excess syndrome) of Tan_Re_Yong_Fei was associated with the two diseases (P < 0.001) and Xu TCMS (deficiency syndrome) of Fei_Shen_Qi_Xu was associated with both outcomes (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The shared core Shi TCMS (excess syndrome) for both COPD and asthma was Tan_Re_Yong_Fei, and the shared core Xu TCMS (deficiency syndrome) was Fei_Shen_Qi_Xu.