Distribution of Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns in Patients with Spasmodic Torticollis Based on Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis:A Cross-sectional Study
Objective To analyze the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)patterns in patients with spasmodic torticollis and provide reference for standardized differentiation and clinical treatment.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in the spasmodic torticollis outpatient clinic and dystonia ward of the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 2022 to December 2023.The general information including gender,age,duration of disease and type,and the TCM four examinations data such as symptoms,tongue manifestation and pulse manifestation of 198 patients with spasmodic torticollis were obtained by means of on-site questionnaires.Descriptive frequency analysis,factor analysis,and cluster analysis were performed,and the distribu-tion of major TCM patterns were summarized based on the clinical information.Results A total of 198 patients with spasmodic torticollis were included,of which 89(44.95%)were male and 109(55.05%)were female,with an aver-age age of 40.70±0.96 years and an average course of disease of 24.78±2.32 months.A total of 296 symptoms/signs were obtained,with a cumulative frequency of 6756 times,of which 58 symptoms/signs had a frequency ≥20%,and the top three were neck and back stiffness(83.84%),condition related to emotions(74.75%)and irritability(72.73%).Factor analysis of 58 symptoms/signs showed that factor rotation converged after 51 iterations,resulting in 20 common factors with a cumulative contribution of 64.03%.The top three syndrome elements related to the loca-tion of the disease were liver,channels,tendons and bones,and those related nature of the disease were dominated by qi stagnation,blood stasis and yin deficiency.The cluster analysis of the 20 common factors showed that the main TCM patterns were internal stirring of liver wind syndrome,liver-kidney yin deficiency syndrome,turbid phlegm ob-struction syndrome,and pathogen congested in the channels syndrome.Among the 198 patients,81 were diagnosed with internal stirring of liver wind syndrome,60 with liver-kidney yin deficiency syndrome,37 with turbid phlegm ob-struction syndrome,and 20 with pathogen congested in the channels syndrome.There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of TCM patterns among patients of different genders,age groups,and duration of disease(P>0.05).Conclusion Spasmodic torticollis is mainly located in the liver,mostly with internal stirring of liver wind syndrome,liver-kidney yin deficiency syndrome,turbid phlegm obstruction syndrome,and pathogen congested in the channels syndrome.
spasmodic torticollistraditional Chinese medicine patternssyndrome elementsfactor analysiscluster analysis