Results & Conclusion

This study revealed 5 most common TCM diagnoses to be Heart Yin Xu, Kidney Yang Xu, Kidney Yin Xu, Spleen Yang Xu, and Heart Yang Xu. There were 64% agreement between 2 CMPs. A significant difference was detected between the proportions of amphetamine/ice usage in the Kidney Yang Xu and Heart Yin Xu groups (p = 0.017). The study concluded that diagnostic tools should be validated and with improved CMP inter-rater reliability to enhance the clinical trial quality for TCM treatment on substance abuse.

Project Title:

An Epidemiological Study on the Syndrome Differentiation of Chinese Medicine for Drug Abusers 
中醫辨證對吸毒者的流行病學研究

Principal Investigator:

Professor W K TANG

Organization:

Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Start Year:

2009 - 2010

Status:

Completed

Type of Study:

Research 

Summary:

Background

Drug abuse is a severe social problem in Hong Kong. Among these drug abusers, ketamine is the most popular one in recent years. Data from Statistics Unit of the Central Registry of Drug Abuse in 2008 shown that among the drug abusers with age under 21, 85.4% were ketamine abusers. Others were ecstasy (MDMA, 15.6%) and ice (Methylamphetamine, 14.9%).

Since drug abuse affects health and the adverse effects will cause permanent damage, effective and safe interventions are urgently needed. Although numerous clinical studies have shown that CM is useful for helping substance abusers, most of them focused on “old” drug abuse (e.g. opiate, morphine). There is little information about the “new” drug like ketamine, defining the “CM syndromes” of the “New Drug Abusers” is therefore vital in planning appropriate intervention.

Aim and objectives

  1. Based on literature reviews on “new” drug abusers to develop a protocol for a multi-centered epidemiological study on syndrome differentiation of CM for different drug abusers.
  2. To conduct a study to identity different CM “Syndromes” of the “New Drug Abusers”. 

Results & Conclusion

This study revealed 5 most common TCM diagnoses to be Heart Yin Xu, Kidney Yang Xu, Kidney Yin Xu, Spleen Yang Xu, and Heart Yang Xu. There were 64% agreement between 2 CMPs. A significant difference was detected between the proportions of amphetamine/ice usage in the Kidney Yang Xu and Heart Yin Xu groups (p = 0.017). The study concluded that diagnostic tools should be validated and with improved CMP inter-rater reliability to enhance the clinical trial quality for TCM treatment on substance abuse.

Reference:
 
Keywords:

Epidemiology; Chinese Medicine syndrome; Drug abuse; Chinese Medicine (CM); Syndrome Differentiation

流行病學; 中醫證型; 濫藥; 中醫; 辨證