Analysis of the indications of empirical prescription in TCM based on association rules

[Objective]: Analyze the indications of empirical prescription and its relations in TCM, and provide a clear guide for the empirical prescription application. [Methods]: First, we collect the cases that professor Zhi-Min Yang uses the empirical prescription to remedy insomnia and investigate patient\´s demographic feature , historical feature , four diagnostic techniques of TCM feature , Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI). Second, we observe the whole treatment, and define the standard of curative effect by PSQI reduced rate between before-treatment and post-treatment 1 month. Third, we divide the cases into invalid group and effective group by the standard of curative effect, and filter the preliminary features from effective group and invalid group by chi-square test. And then, analyze the relations among the preliminary indications by association rules (Apriori). [Results]: We had collected 40 cases. Base on the standard of curative effect, 28 of them had cured, 12 of them were invalid. We had investigated 206 features of each case, and filter 11 features from effective group and invalid group by chi-square test. Analyze the relations of among 11 preliminary indications by association rules. Extract 4 rules from invalid group (support 10%, confidence 80%) and 15 rules from effective group (support 60%, confidence 80%). [Conclusion]: The indications that professor Zhi-Min Yang remedy insomnia is follow the conditions: 1. Syndrome is yang or qi asthenia, its symptoms must contain one of the follow symptom: fatigue, afraid of cold, chilly, ice cold limbs. 2. Base on yang or qi asthenia syndrome, symptoms must merge "irascible" symptom. 3. Base on yang or qi asthenia, syndromes can\´t merge "constipation" symptom.