TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Cohort Study on Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Differentiation-based Treatment for Post-COVID-19 Syndrome 
AU  - Jian, Manning
AU  - Tan, Yongwen
AU  - Qin, Jinying
AU  - Zheng, Danwen
AU  - Guo, Yanfeng
AU  - Liu, Qingyan
AU  - Deng, Qiuying
AU  - Xi, Xiaotu
AU  - Liu, Qing
AU  - Yang, Rongyuan
JF  - Future Integrative Medicine
VL  - 
IS  - 000
SN  - 2835-6357
SP  - 
EP  - 
Y1  - 2026-06-16
DO  - 10.14218/FIM.2026.00001
UR  - https://www.xiahepublishing.com/2835-6357/FIM-2026-00001
AB  - Background and objectives 
Due to the lack of specific Western medicine therapies for post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome in clinical practice, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for post-COVID-19 syndrome using a cohort study design and to explore its clinical value in alleviating patients’ symptoms and improving clinical outcomes.
Methods
In this cohort study, patients were divided into two groups according to clinical treatment. The control group received conventional Western medicine, and the treatment group received additional TCM syndrome differentiation–based treatment. Propensity score matching methods were used to reduce selection bias by equating groups based on observed covariates. Clinical data, including TCM symptom scores, the Short Form 36 Health Survey, clinical efficacy, and adverse events at Day 7, were collected. The primary outcome was the efficacy rate, defined by improvement at Day 7 compared with the Day 0 score. Data were processed and analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and R 4.5.0 software.
Results
A total of 434 patients were enrolled in the cohort, including 306 patients in the control group and 128 in the treatment group. After 1:1 matching, 94 matched pairs were analyzed. For the primary outcome, the effective rate in the treatment group was higher than that in the control group (30.8% vs. 17.2%; odds ratio (OR) = 2.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09–4.35, P = 0.003). After seven days of treatment, the TCM syndrome score improved more in the treatment group than in the control group (median difference (MD) = 2.00, 95% CI: 0.50–3.50, P = 0.009). Subgroup analyses showed generally favorable efficacy in the treatment group across subgroups, though not all reached statistical significance.
Conclusions
TCM syndrome differentiation–based therapy effectively relieves clinical symptoms in patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome.