Abstract

Objectives We have investigated a questionnaire on syndrome differentiation pertaining to obesity. To calculate data from this questionnaire, we can simply sum up the degree of symptoms. However, this does not reflect the difference in contribution of syndrome differentiation. In order to improve the level of precision of this questionnaire, we gather the weight of each symptom from experts and apply them to overweight persons. Method Nine Experts from The Society of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research nominated weights for the symptoms. We created a program based on weight survey results and applied to 1487 overweight persons and 26 oriental medical doctors. The concordance rate between the result obtained from the oriental medical doctors and that obtained using three methods was analyzed. Results 1. The reliability of this questionnaire is very high (Cronbach' ${\alpha}$=0.963). 2. The concordance level between diagnosis by oriental medical doctors and the result of general calculation is 0.347, between diagnosis by oriental medical doctors and the result of weighted calculation by syndrome differentiation is 0.362, between diagnosis by oriental medical doctors and the result of weighted calculation by symptoms is 0.1. Conclusions Weighted calculation by syndrome differentiation is relative more appropriate among three methods studied.

Keywords

• Weight;
• Obesity;
• Syndrome Differentiation;
• Questionnaire