Objective:This study aimed to reveal the age-related changes in prevalence and symptom characteristics in kidney deficiency syndrome (KDS) with varied health status.Methods:This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in6 hospitals.Investigators queried participants aged 20-79 about their health,including symptoms if any,and completed questionnaires to collect participants responses.Prevalence,severity,and frequency of KDS and other relevant parameters were observed and recorded.Comparative analysis of count-able variables,including prevalence,was performed by frequency analysis and x2 test and ex-pressed as a composite ratio.Comparative analysis of quantitative scores of the severity and frequency of symptoms was performed by the rank-sum test.Regression analysis of the corre-lation of KDS with potential contributing factors was performed by non-conditional binary lo-gistic stepwise regression of numerical variables.Results:Prevalence of KDS in healthy and unhealthy participants correlated with increasing age (P ＜ 0.05).In those with chronic disease,KDS prevalence was comparatively high,but the trend was not obvious.KDS prevalence in participants age 20-39 showed an increasing trend with deteriorating health (P ＜ 0.05).Compared to healthy individuals,KDS prevalence in subhealthy persons and those with chronic disease showed an increasing trend (P ＜ 0.05)in the 40-59 and 60-79 age groups,whereas there was no difference between subhealthy per-sons and those with chronic disease age 40-59 and 60-79.Symptom severity scores of KDS showed an increasing trend with increasing age and deteriorating health status (P ＜ 0.05).Higher symptom frequency scores were also positively correlated with increasing age(P ＜ 0.05),but health status deterioration was not significantly correlated (P ＞ 0.05).Age,health status,lower back pain,shin soreness or heel pain,tinnitus or deafness,hair loss or loose teeth,incomplete bladder emptying or incontinence,and sexual dysfunction or infer-tility were potential factors contributing to KDS (P ＜ 0.05),but age was the only independent variable for which OR ＞1.Moreover,the distribution of typical KDS-related symptoms showed dramatic regularities.Conclusion:Prevalence and symptom characteristics of KDS were found to increase consis-tently with increasing age and deteriorating health status.Kidney deficiency may be an impor-tant mechanism of aging in the subhealthy and chronic disease states.