The Distribution of Body Constitutions Among Hong Kong Elderly Population: A Cross-sectional Study

Hong Kong Baptist University5,300 enrolled

Overview

Hong Kong, similar as other developed economic entities, has been faced big challenges from increasing medical burden and aged population. Based on the updated estimates of domestic health expenditure by Food and Health Bureau HKSAR, the total health expenditure amounted to HK$112,144 million in 2012/13 with increasing approximate 4 times than 1992/93. According to the data from Census and Statistics Department, in 2010, there was still 13% population aged above 65 years, while in 2039, this percentage will be elevated to 28% (http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/so20.jsp). In other words, every three individuals will contain a person aged above 65 years in the future 30 years. Therefore, how to release the medical burden resulted from aged tendency of population is the critical question in optimizing the treatment expenses. Our aims in the cross-sectional study are to 1) estimate the number and percentage of nine body constitutions among population aged 65 and over in Hong Kong 2) identify the associations between nine body constitutions and other predetermined factors such as gender, weight, diet, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, quality of life scale scores, et al.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

5,300

Conditions

Nine Body Constitutions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * aged 65 and over * capable of consenting and have agreed to participate, ambulatory, and not receiving treatment modalities, which, if omitted, may result in immediate life threatening risk such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer, or dialysis for renal failure Exclusion Criteria: * neurological disorders such as dementia

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Distribution of nine body constitutions assessed by the TCM Body Constitution Questionnaire (For Elderly People) (Cantonese version)

The primary outcome will be the distribution of nine body constitutions in Hong Kong aged 65 and over population.

Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year

Secondary Outcomes

Correlation between body constitution distribution and other predetermined factors

Secondary outcomes will be the correlation between body constitution distribution and other predetermined factors such as gender, age, weight, dietary habit, education and quality of life scores (SF-36 Hong Kong questionnaire), et al.