Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD), a common disease with high incidence and mortality rate, has seriously threatened the health and life of the public. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has an important role in the prevention and treatment of this disease. Through clinical epidemiological survey, a deeper understanding of TCM etiology and syndrome characteristics in CAD would further improve clinical efficacy in the treatment of this disease.
Methods/design: The preliminary clinical questionnaire for TCM etiology and syndrome differentiation in CAD was designed after literature reviews and analysis. Through a series of clinical pre-surveys, expert consultation and demonstration, the formal TCM clinical epidemiology questionnaire on the etiology and syndrome differentiation in CAD was finalized, after which, the study protocol, inclusive and exclusive criteria and related quality control measures were prepared. The multiregional clinical epidemiological survey with more than 5000 participants with CAD will be carried out in 41 TCM hospitals of China for investigating the TCM etiology and syndrome differentiation of CAD.
Discussion: Multiregion large sample size clinical epidemiology survey on TCM etiology and syndrome differentiation in CAD will provide further evidence in preventing CAD and improving the standardization process of syndrome research.
Trial registration: This study protocol was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on November 27, 2011 in both Chinese and English editions and the registration number is ChiCTR-ECS-11001728.