Rough Set Of Applied Research, The Identification Of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chinese Medicine Syndromes

Objective: Rheumatic arthritis (RA) is a repeatedly paroxysmal disease which caused by many etiological factors. The superiority and soul of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are diagnosis and treatment on the basis of an overall analysis of the illness and the patient's condition, which is in terms of syndrome of the patient. Syndrome is a dynamic process. It is complicated in clinic and can easily be affected by the outside environment or by the doctor's subjectivity, which restrict~ the improvement of the differentiation technique and the clinical curative effect. In order to establish an effective system based on the modern science, directing the clinical diagnosis and treatment, we apply the Rough Set to develop predictive models. We compare traditional medicine statistical method. fuzzy synthesis evaluation and Rough Set and study which is the best mathematical method on diagnosis of TCM syndromes of Rheumatoid Arthritis contemporary. We hope we could, through this study, find an appropriate way of measuring the five syndromes of RA. Setting: the second hospital affiliated to Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Patients/participants: All the patients involved in the study were the successive outpatients and inpatients of the department of rheumatic disease of the second hospital affiliated to Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from August, 1997 to Octobe, 1999. The selected cases were those meeting the revised ARA criteria for rheumatoid arthritis, 1987, and the revised criteria based on the clinical golden rule of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Main Outcome Measures: Three mathematical methods were used respectively on studying and testing the diagnosis of TCM syndromes of 224 cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Regarding docto(s diagnosis as the golden standard, we study the correct rate of three methodc on diagnosis of five kinds of syndromes of testing template respectively, compare the correct rate afterward. And then, we apply Rough Set to analyze the clinical symptom, physical sign and laboratory detection index of 356 cases of RA, establishing a predictive model that can differentiate the syndrome of RA, illuminating the relations between the syndromes. Through this model, we study the correct rate of 39 case of RA. Result: Base on analysis of 224 R.A patients, the correct rate of traditional medicine statistical method on diagnosis of five kinds of syndromes are 0%,0%,66.60/o,45.5% and 42.90/a respectively, and the total correct rate is 38.6%. The correct rate of fuzzy synthesis evaluation are 00/o,200/o,44.4%,63.6% and 21.4% respectively, and the total correct rate is 34.1%. The con~ct rate of Rough Set are 10O~/o,60%,88.90/o,l00% and 100% respectively, and the total correct rate is 93.2%. The correct rate of Rough Set which base on analysis of 356 RA patients is 82%. Conclusions: The present study shows that Rough Set is the best method of three mathematical methods on diagnosis of TCM syndromes of Rheumatoid Arthritis.?And it can be used to predict the differentiation of RA avoiding the subjective and hypotheses of the doctors, reducing the disturbance of subjective factors, turning the macroscopic differentiafion anto microcosmic differentiation, normalizing the RA diagnostic. So it can be broadly used in the clinic.