| Objectives: to establish a descriptive definition and evaluation criterion ofsubhealth.Methods: According to the principles of Delphi method, we consulted clinical andepidemiological experts who were authoritative in their own fields and interestedin the subhealth study for several times. The titles of them were at least associateprofessors. First, we held 5 charrettes and 2 questionnaire consultations in orderto discuss the definition of subhealth,then we held 2 questionnaire consultationsto evaluate the importance of all the indices.At last, we concluded the feedbackopinions and calculated relevant indications.Results: After the 5 charrettes and 2 questionnaire consultations, we got adescriptive definition of subhealth that was generally recognized by theexperts--subhealth is a dynamic state that leads to different degrees ofdecreasing of physical, psychological and social adaptive functions which are sensed by individuals, however, the decreasing is not enough to be diagnosed as any diagnostic disease. In the 2 questionnaire consultations, the age of the experts who took part in was 56.8±12.8(mean±SD) years. The return rates of the two consultations were 100% and 89.5%, respectively. The mean values of authorities were 0.76 and 0.75,respectively. The harmonious coefficients were 0.183 and 0.348,respectively,and were both statistic significant(P<0.01). The weighted evaluation scores (%) of the 7 primary indices were as follows: 13.1 (digestive functions),15.7(sleep),12.0(sexual function), 15.4(fatigue), 13.5(pain), 15.8(emotions), 14.5(joy and satisfaction of life). Conclusions: The experts participating this study are of good enthusiasm, authority and the harmony of experts' opinions are acceptable. The definition of subhealth we finally established well describes what subhealth is, and the evaluation criterion is qualified for epidemiological investigation and will be used in population later on.
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