探討老年人陰／陽虛體質與心血管疾病相關性之研究

Correlation between Constitution of Yin/ Yang Deficiency and Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly

背景：基於中醫理論，陽虛和陰虛體質是用來表徵人群的健康狀況。心血管疾病是老年人死亡的主要原因。很少有研究探討陽／陰虛體質與心血管疾病之間的關係。目的：本研究主要描述老年人陰／陽虛體質與心血管疾病的組成比例（proportion）及探討影響老年人心血管疾病的因素。方法：透過台灣人體生物資料庫的研究數據，本研究共選擇了2,353名60－70歲的老年人。研究變項包括社會人口學資料、疾病史、健康檢查資料及陰／陽虛體質。陰／陽虛體質是透過中醫體質量表來評估。研究使用羅吉斯迴歸（logistic regression）探討影響罹患心血管疾病的相關因子。結果：研究顯示老年人陰虛和陽虛比例各佔16.6％及13.1％，罹患有心血管疾病者約38.5％。迴歸檢定統計結果顯示高齡、男性、BMI≧24、有糖尿病與有陽虛體質是心血管疾病的危險因素。結論：本研究發現陽虛體質老人罹患心血管疾病的風險較高，特別是肥胖有糖尿病的男性。對陽虛體質患者可建議接受更詳細的心血管檢查，中醫師是否能透過治療陽虛體質進而改善患者的心血管健康值得未來進一步的研究。

Background: Based on the theory of Chinese Medicine, both yang-deficiency and yin- deficiency constitutions have been used to characterize the health status of the population. Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death in the elderly. There was rare study to explore the relationship between the constitutions of yin/ yang deficiency and cardiovascular disease. Aim: The objective of this study was to describe the proportion of yin/yang deficiency and cardiovascular disease in the elderly. Also, we investigated the factors affecting the cardiovascular disease. Methods: A total of 2,353 elderly people aged 60-70 years were selected from the Taiwan Biobank Research Database. The study variables included the individuals' demographics, past disease, health check data, and body constitution, where the constitutions of yin/yang deficiency were assessed using the Body Constitution Questionnaire (BCQ). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with cardiovascular disease. Results: The percentage of study participants who had cardiovascular disease was 38.5%. The proportions of the elderly people who had the constitutions in yin deficiency and yang deficiency were 16.6% and 13.1%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis show that elder, male, BMI ≧ 24, diabetes and the constitution of yang deficiency were the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: Elderly in Taiwan with the constitution of yang deficiency had a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, especially for obese men with diabetes. The elderly with the constitution of yang deficiency were suggested to accept detail cardiovascular examinations. Whether improving the constitution of yang deficiency by the Chinese medicine doctors is consistent with the change of cardiovascular health merits further study.