Objective

To select the common syndrome factors of menopausal syndrome through questionnaire investigation among experts.
Methods

Firstly, a questionnaire was constructed on the basis of our previous research, and then investigation of the experts by the questionnaire was carried out. The experts came from twelve tertiary hospitals (6 cities) in China, and engaged in clinical practice of gynecology of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The common TCM syndrome factors of menopausal syndrome were selected based on consent degree of the experts in mean value, full marks ratio, rank sum and variation coefficient.
Results

One hundred sets of the questionnaires were sent out and ninety-eight sets were returned back. The callback rate was 98%. In accordance with cumulative percentage of expert agreement and complete agreement more than 50% and the coefficient variation less than 0.25, we confirmed the common TCM syndrome factors of menopause syndrome. The syndrome factors related to disease location were kidney, liver, heart, and spleen, and those related to the nature of disease were yin deficiency, deficiency of essence, yang deficiency, hyperactivity of yang, qi deficiency, qi stagnation, blood deficiency, and blood stasis.
Conclusion

Expert consultation questionnaire can collect consensus opinions of experts and is effective for identifying common TCM syndrome factors of a disease. The TCM syndrome factors acquired through the study may provide the evidence for establishment of TCM syndrome diagnosis criteria for the disease in future.

Key words: Menopausal syndrome, Syndrome, Diagnosis (TCM), expert systems