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Objective: To compare the performance of gastroenterologists major in western medicine in diagnosing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types of functional dyspepsia (FD), postprandial distress (PDS) and epigastric pain syndromes (EPS) based on the main symptoms, with that of traditional TCM practitioners in outpatient services., Methods: Patients with PDS or EPS were enrolled in the study from six tertiary referral centers between January 2016 and December 2017. Their symptoms were first diagnosed by medical doctors, and then by the TCM practitioners. The diagnostic agreement between the gastroenterologists and the TCM practitioners was calculated. The patients' data and their types of FD syndrome were collected and analyzed., Results: In total 160 patients, including 81 with PDS and 79 with EPS were enrolled. The total diagnostic consistency rate between the gastroenterologists and TCM practitioners was 86.3%, while that of PDS and EPS was 85.2% and 87.3%, respectively. The most common type of PDS diagnosed by TCM practitioners was liver-stomach disharmony syndrome (33.3%), spleen deficiency and qi-stagnation syndrome (33.3%), while that for EPS was liver-stomach disharmony syndrome (36.7%)., Conclusions: Gastroenterologists had a high diagnostic agreement about the types of FD syndromes based on differential diagnosis of the main symptoms, compared with TCM practitioners. This may aid gastroenterologists in selecting Chinese medicine for FD-based on syndrome differentiation., (© 2020 Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Purpose. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) including Chinese patent medicine has been widely used to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Syndrome differentiation is the essence of TCM. However, the diagnostic ability of gastroenterologists to detect TCM syndromes in IBS in China remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of gastroenterologists to diagnose the TCM syndromes of IBS based on modified simple criteria compared with TCM practitioners. Methods. Patients meeting the Rome III criteria for IBS-D or IBS-C were recruited from six tertiary referral centers between January 2016 and December 2017. After learning the diagnosis criteria of the TCM syndromes in IBS, gastroenterologists first diagnosed the syndromes of the enrolled patients. Subsequently, the patients were diagnosed by TCM practitioners. The rate of agreement between the gastroenterologists and TCM practitioners was analyzed. In addition, demographic data and the distribution of TCM syndrome types in IBS were also analyzed. Results. A total of 178 patients (93 males and 85 females), including 131 patients with IBS-D and 47 patients with IBS-C, were enrolled in this study. The rate of agreement of the syndrome diagnosis between the gastroenterologists and TCM practitioners was 84.3%. The diagnosis consistency rates among IBS-D patients and IBS-C patients were 87.0% and 76.5%, respectively. The most common TCM syndrome type in IBS-D patients was liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome (27.5%), followed by spleen-yang deficiency syndrome (19.8%). Dryness and heat in intestine syndrome was the most common TCM syndrome in IBS-C patients (57.4%). Conclusions. Gastroenterologists had good diagnostic agreement with TCM practitioners for diagnosing TCM syndrome types in IBS after learning the diagnostic criteria. This knowledge can aid gastroenterologists in selecting suitable Chinese patent medicine to treat IBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]