Characteristics of Patients With Meteoropathy Using Web‐Based Questionnaire Analysis in Japanese Kampo Clinical Practice: A Retrospective Observational Study

Aim Meteoropathy refers to the worsening of existing symptoms or emergence of new symptoms in response to climatic changes. Although Kampo medicine traditionally emphasizes the impact of seasonal and weather shifts on the body, its clinical interpretation of meteoropathy remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to identify Kampo‐based symptom patterns associated with meteoropathy using data from a web‐based questionnaire. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study of 208 records from patients at a Kampo outpatient clinic in Japan between September 2022 and December 2024. Patients were classified into meteoropathy and nonmeteoropathy groups based on weather‐related terms in their chief complaints. Kampo‐related symptoms were compared using proportion tests with false discovery rate correction. We used exploratory factor analysis to identify latent symptom patterns. Results Meteoropathy was identified in 31.3% (65/208) of patients. Symptoms such as “headache” and its subtypes (“pulsating headache,” “helmet‐like sensation,” “other types of headache”), along with complaints of being “easily fatigued,” “feeling low/lacking motivation,” and “prone to motion sickness,” were significantly more frequent in the meteoropathy group (adjusted false discovery rate: p < 0.05). Exploratory factor analysis identified a key latent symptom pattern associated with meteoropathy, comprising symptoms indicative of qi deficiency and fluid retention. Conclusions Patients with meteoropathy exhibited a distinct symptom cluster identified through exploratory factor analysis, which may correspond to Kampo pathophysiological patterns such as qi deficiency and fluid retention. These findings suggest that Kampo diagnostic concepts could provide a useful framework for characterizing meteoropathy‐related symptoms and informing individualized treatment approaches.