Correlation between successful aging and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To investigate the correlation between successful aging (SA) and Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution and quality of life (QOL) in elderly diabetic patients.
 Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could be used in the management of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) to improve their quality of life (QOL).
 Design: This was a cross-sectional study in elderly patients with T2DM.
 Methods: The convenience sampling method was used to recruit elderly patients with T2DM at the Community Health Service Center, from May to August 2019. The study methods were compliant with the Strobe checklist (See Supplementary File 1).
 Results: The average score of SA was 58.0±7.7 points in 143 participants. The factors associated with SA were sex, education, way of living, drinking habits, exercising, sleeping, health condition, and participation in social activities. The elderly diabetic patients with Yin-Yang harmony had the highest score of SA. The elderly diabetic patients with Yin-Yang harmony had the highest score of QOL in all dimensions. The score of SA was positively correlated with QOL in all dimensions (total score: r=0.498, P<0.001; subscores: r=0.281-0.550, all P<0.05).
 Conclusions: The status of the SA of elderly diabetic patients in the community was moderate. TCM constitution, QOL, and SA were correlated with each other.