The Exploration of Disease Pattern, Zheng, for Differentiation of Allergic Rhinitis in Traditional Chinese Medicine Practice

Pattern, or "zheng," differentiation is the essential guide to treatment with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, the considerable variability between TCM patterns complicates evaluations of TCM treatment effectiveness. The aim of this study was to explore and characterize the relationship between patterns and the core patterns of allergic rhinitis. We summarized 23 clinical trials of allergic rhinitis with mention of pattern differentiation; association rule mining was used to analyze TCM patterns of allergic rhinitis. A total of 205 allergic rhinitis patients seen at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from March to June 2005 were included for comparison. Among the 23 clinical trials evaluated, lung qi deficiency and spleen qi deficiencies were the core patterns of allergic rhinitis, accounting for 29.50% and 28.98% of all patterns, respectively. A higher prevalence of lung or spleen qi deficiency (93.7%) was found in Taiwan. Additionally, patients with lung or spleen qi deficiency were younger (27.99 ± 12.94 versus 58.54 ± 12.96 years) and the severity of nasal stuffiness was higher than among patients with kidney qi deficiency (1.35 ± 0.89 versus 0.62 ± 0.65; P < 0.05). Lung and spleen qi deficiencies are the core patterns of allergic rhinitis and determining the severity of nasal stuffiness is helpful in differentiating the TCM patterns.