A Comparison for Constitutional Body Type between Korean and Chinese-Korean - Using Propensity Score Matching

A Comparison for Constitutional Body Type between Korean and Chinese-Korean- Using Propensity Score Matching - Hoseok Kim, Younghwa Baek, Siwoo Lee, Jonghyang YooKorea Institute of Oriental MedicineObjectivesThe body shape was a key information for diagnosing the Sasang constitution (SC) in Sasang constitutional medicine. The aim of this study was to compare the body shapes and mainly focusing on the Korean and Chinese-KoreanMethods We calculated the propensity score for each SC type in males and females separately, and compared body shape including 8 circumference and 5 width between Korean and Chinese-Korean according to the sex and SC. ResultsKoreans have larger trunk and hip area compared to Chinese-Koreans, while Chinese-Koreans have larger abdomen compared with Koreans. Most variables were significantly different among SC types, for both Korean and Chinese-Korean. Especially, the Taeumin (TE) type has the largest body shape compared with the other SC types,it was similar between Korean and Chinese-Korean.ConclusionsThis study showed that the TE type has the largest body shape, followed by Soyangin (SY) and Soeumin (SE) in order, for both Korean and Chinese-Korean respectively. These results suggests that the body shape of Chinese-Koreanis similar with Korean based on SC type.Key Words