OBJECTIVETo establish a quantitative model for evaluating the degree of the TCM basic syndromes often encountered in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC).

METHODSMedical literatures concerning the clinical investigation and TCM syndrome of PLC were collected and analyzed adopting expert-composed symposium method, and the 100 millimeter scaling was applied in combining with scoring on degree of symptoms to establish a quantitative criterion for symptoms and signs degree classification in patients with PLC. Two models, i.e. the additive model and the additive-multiplicative model, were established by using comprehensive analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as the mathematical tool to estimate the weight of the criterion for evaluating basic syndromes in various layers by specialists. Then the two models were verified in clinical practice and the outcomes were compared with that fuzzy evaluated by specialists.

RESULTSVerification on 459 times/case of PLC showed that the coincidence rate between the outcomes derived from specialists with that from the additive model was 84.53 %, and with that from the additive-multificative model was 62.75 %, the difference between the two showed statistical significance (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSIt could be decided that the additive model is the principle model suitable for quantitative evaluation on the degree of TCM basic syndromes in patients with PLC.