Traditional Chinese medicine constitution-related body-composition phenotypes and 1-year metabolic changes: a repeated health-examination study
Abstract
BackgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution is widely used for health stratification, yet its correspondence with objectively measured body composition and the metabolic relevance of short-term body-composition changes remain unclear.MethodsRepeated cross-sectional analyses included 1,180, 2,530, and 6,791 participant-year observations in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. Associations between TCM constitution and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), phase angle, body fat percentage (PBF), and visceral fat area (VFA) were estimated using multivariable linear regression, with Balanced constitution as the reference. The 2024–2025 repeated-examination cohort included 997 participants; 735 without metabolic abnormality clustering at baseline formed the incident cohort. Baseline-adjusted linear models examined associations of 1-year body-composition changes with follow-up metabolic markers, and modified Poisson regression estimated risk ratios (RRs) for incident clustering. Additional analyses accounted for concurrent body mass index (BMI) change and examined temporal consistency, dose–response patterns, and robustness.ResultsIn 2025, Yang-deficiency constitution was associated with lower ASMI (−0.052 SD) and phase angle (−0.096 SD) and higher PBF (0.073 SD) and VFA (0.053 SD) after adjustment for age, sex, and BMI. Phlegm-dampness constitution was associated with lower phase angle (−0.117 SD) and higher PBF (0.058 SD) and VFA (0.054 SD). These phenotype patterns were directionally consistent across calendar years. During follow-up, 140 of 735 participants (19.0%) developed metabolic abnormality clustering. Per 1-SD increases in PBF and VFA change were associated with RRs of 1.18 (95% CI 1.03–1.37) and 1.22 (95% CI 1.07–1.40), respectively. After additional adjustment for concurrent BMI change, the corresponding RRs were 1.04 (95% CI 0.85–1.26) and 1.11 (95% CI 0.92–1.34), indicating that short-term adiposity changes largely paralleled changes in overall body weight.ConclusionTCM constitution categories corresponded to modest, multidimensional body-composition phenotypes that were consistent across repeated calendar-year samples. Increases in total and visceral adiposity were associated with adverse metabolic changes over the same 1-year interval and with incident metabolic-abnormality clustering at follow-up, largely in parallel with BMI change. These findings provide an objective basis for characterizing constitution-related phenotypes and monitoring metabolic remodeling in routine health examinations.
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BibTeX
@article{pan2026traditional,
title = {{Traditional Chinese medicine constitution-related body-composition phenotypes and 1-year metabolic changes: a repeated health-examination study}},
author = {Yijin Pan and Ying Hu and Zheng Zhu and Ruiying Guo and Wenbo Xiao and Ting Xiao and Shiyao Wang and Weihan Cao and Na Zhao and Hua Dong},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1981942},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1981942},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Traditional Chinese medicine constitution-related body-composition phenotypes and 1-year metabolic changes: a repeated health-examination study
AU - Yijin Pan
AU - Ying Hu
AU - Zheng Zhu
AU - Ruiying Guo
AU - Wenbo Xiao
AU - Ting Xiao
AU - Shiyao Wang
AU - Weihan Cao
AU - Na Zhao
AU - Hua Dong
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1981942
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1981942
AB - BackgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution is widely used for health stratification, yet its correspondence with objectively measured body composition and the metabolic relevance of short-term body-composition changes remain unclear.MethodsRepeated cross-sectional analyses included 1,180, 2,530, and 6,791 participant-year observations in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. Associations between TCM constitution and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), phase angle, body fat percentage (PBF), and visceral fat area (VFA) were estimated using multivariable linear regression, with Balanced constitution as the reference. The 2024–2025 repeated-examination cohort included 997 participants; 735 without metabolic abnormality clustering at baseline formed the incident cohort. Baseline-adjusted linear models examined associations of 1-year body-composition changes with follow-up metabolic markers, and modified Poisson regression estimated risk ratios (RRs) for incident clustering. Additional analyses accounted for concurrent body mass index (BMI) change and examined temporal consistency, dose–response patterns, and robustness.ResultsIn 2025, Yang-deficiency constitution was associated with lower ASMI (−0.052 SD) and phase angle (−0.096 SD) and higher PBF (0.073 SD) and VFA (0.053 SD) after adjustment for age, sex, and BMI. Phlegm-dampness constitution was associated with lower phase angle (−0.117 SD) and higher PBF (0.058 SD) and VFA (0.054 SD). These phenotype patterns were directionally consistent across calendar years. During follow-up, 140 of 735 participants (19.0%) developed metabolic abnormality clustering. Per 1-SD increases in PBF and VFA change were associated with RRs of 1.18 (95% CI 1.03–1.37) and 1.22 (95% CI 1.07–1.40), respectively. After additional adjustment for concurrent BMI change, the corresponding RRs were 1.04 (95% CI 0.85–1.26) and 1.11 (95% CI 0.92–1.34), indicating that short-term adiposity changes largely paralleled changes in overall body weight.ConclusionTCM constitution categories corresponded to modest, multidimensional body-composition phenotypes that were consistent across repeated calendar-year samples. Increases in total and visceral adiposity were associated with adverse metabolic changes over the same 1-year interval and with incident metabolic-abnormality clustering at follow-up, largely in parallel with BMI change. These findings provide an objective basis for characterizing constitution-related phenotypes and monitoring metabolic remodeling in routine health examinations.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -