Abstract

Objective: Deficiency and excess are two fundamental principles in the Eight Principles pattern differentiation, reflecting the patient’s functional state and the nature of the pathogenic factors. This study aims to evaluate the reliability of the Vietnamese version of the Deficiency and Excess Pattern Identification Questionnaire (DEPIQ-V) and to investigate several characteristics of deficiency and excess patterns among patients with musculoskeletal disorders.

Methods:  A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 236 patients diagnosed with lumbar spondylosis and/or knee osteoarthritis and/or periarthritis humeroscapularis and/or  rheumatoid arthritis who visited and received treatment at Thua Thien Hue Traditional Medicine Hospital.

Results: The DEPIQ-V questionnaire demonstrated a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.848 for deficiency pattern and 0.855 for excess pattern. Among patients with musculoskeletal disorders, the mean scores for deficiency and excess patterns were 41.0 ± 9.8 and 44.8 ± 11.8, respectively.

Conclusion: The DEPIQ-V, consisting of 17 deficiency-pattern items and 17 excess-pattern items, demonstrated high reliability as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. In patients with musculoskeletal disorders, both deficiency and excess patterns were predominantly mild in severity.