ABSTRACT
【Objective】 The characteristics of syndrome patterns of osteoporosis(OP) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) were investigated by cluster analysis,thus to supply evidences for the prevention and treatment of OP.【Methods】The data of 246 OP patients collected by four diagnostic methods were classified into items by cluster analysis.Thenthe principal component analysis was usedtosummarizethe TCMsyndrome patters of OPbyanalyzing the representativeness of eachitem.【Results】Forty-sevenitems were obtained after cluster analysis,andtheitems of short of breath withreluctancetotalk,lassitude and weakness,soreness of thelower back,white coating,vertigo,pale and enlargedtongue had a higher incidences.Whenthe items of OP were classified into four patterns of deficiency of liver and kidney yin,deficiency of spleen and kidney yang,deficiency of Qi and blood,and Qi stagnation and blood stasis,the patterns distribution was clear and had a good representiveness.The patterns of deficiency of liver and kidney yin,and deficiency of spleen and kidney yang had higher incidences of 34.7 %and 30.1 %respectively.【Conclusion】OP classifiedintofour patterns of deficiency of liver and kidney yin,deficiency of spleen and kidney yang,deficiency of Qi and blood,and Qi stagnation and blood stasis is practical in clinic,and most of OPpatients have the manifestations of kidney deficiency.