Valid and Convenient Questionnaire Assessment of Chinese Body Constitution: Item Characteristics, Reliability, and Construct Validation

Taoying Lu,1– 3 Jingwen Yan,4 Jianfang Chang,5 Jianxiong Cai,1– 3 Lingjia Yin,1,3,6 Jiamin Yuan,1,7 Li Huang,1,7 Yingshuai Li,8 Minghua Bai,9 Kit-Tai Hau,5 Darong Wu,1– 3 Zhimin Yang1,7 1State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Clinical Research on Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Program for Outcome Assessment in TCM, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4The Second Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Education Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 7Health Construction Administration Center, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 8National Institute of TCM Constitution and Preventive Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 9School of Traditional Chinese Medicine/National Institute of TCM Constitution and Preventive Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Darong Wu; Zhimin Yang, State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 111 Dade Road, Guangzhou, 510120, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13808869436 ; +86 13822296363, Email darongwu@gzucm.edu.cn; yangyo@vip.tom.comBackground: Body constitution is a fundamental concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for clinical diagnosis, treatment of illness, and community-based health p