Developing Questionnaire of BiJeung(痺證) which is similar to Arthralgia and Paresthesia Syndrome

Objectives: Bi Jeung (비증) is a pain syndrome derivative of pathological patterns of East Asian medicine. The purpose of this study was to develop a self-rated questionnaire for Bi Jeung. Methods: Twelve questionnaire items for Bi Jeung (3 items for the Wind Bi, 5 items for the Cold Bi, and 4 items for the Dampness Bi) were extracted through the literature review. These items were presented to the 18 Korean medical doctors who specialized in pain medicine to conduct two sessions of the Delphi method. The Korean medical doctors were asked to rate the importance of each item for the corresponding Bi syndromes, using a Likert 7-point scale, and were asked to propose which item should be additionally included to increase determinant power to each Bi syndrome. We determined the 4 points of the importance as a cut-off point of each item. Results: Through two sessions of the Delphi method, two items were deleted because their mean values of the importance were below 4 point. Korean medical doctors proposed to add three items for the Bi Jeung. However, the mean values of only two among the three items were over 4 points, so finally 12 items (3 items for the Wind Bi, 5 items for the Cold Bi, and 4 items for the Damp Bi) were determined for the Bi Jeung questionnaire. Conclusions: It is concluded that a 12 item-Bi Jeung questionnaire comprising the three subcategories of the Bi Jeung (Wind, Cold, and Dampness Bis) possesses contents validity through literature review and Delphi methods.

비증 설문문항 개발