OBJECTIVETo compare the clinical characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) in diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODSA total of 85 clinical RA related messages were enacted and classified into 5 sets as pathological locations, quantitative diagnosis, symptomatic descriptions, general status and environment factors. The respective frequency of their presence in the TCM or WM data sets for RA diagnosis collected from MEDLINE and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were analyzed statistically by Chi-square test, and the relationship of some TCM diagnostic factors/conditions with the RA related biological factors was analyzed by co-occurrence-based literature approach of mining.

RESULTSThere was significant difference between the diagnostic pattern of WM and TCM (P < 0.01). Compared with that of WM, TCM diagnosis on RA paid more attention to environmental factors and symptomatic descriptions, which showed definite association with the cytokines and neuro-endocrine factors in RA.

CONCLUSIONExamination of environmental factors and symptomatic descriptions for RA diagnosis is one of the important characteristics of TCM treatment in accordance to syndrome differentiation, it has its potential biologic basis. A novel approach is proposed for exploring the characteristics of TCM in diagnosis and observation.