Objective To explore the regularities and characteristics of application of moxibustion therapy for different clinical problems or diseases by using data mining technique.Methods A database on moxibustion therapy was established first by collection

sorting

screening

recording

collation

data extraction of the related literatures published in recent 60 years.By analyzing the appearance-frequency of clinical disorders treated by moxibustion and their effective rates

the regularities and characteristics were summed up.Results Moxibustion therapy has been used to treat 193 types of clinical disorders or diseases up to now

mostly in internal medicine for 72types(accounting for 37%).Of the collected 2 516 articles about moxibustion therapy

1 107 are for problems of the internal medicine

accounting for 44%;those of facial paralysis and uroschesis are 139 and 108respectively.The second and third mostly seen articles are surgery and gynecology respectively.Analysis on the therapeutic effect showed that moxibustion therapy is effective for relieving many types of clinical conditions or diseases

particularly those of pediatrics

surgery and dermatology.By taking both the appearing frequency and efficacy into account

analysis on the therapeutic effect shows that a total of 29 types of clinical disorders are preferably treated by moxibustion

including 12types(41.4%)attributed to the department of internal medicine

10types(34.5%)to the department of surgery

2types to the department of dermatology

3types to the department of gynecology

one to the pediatrics and one to the department of five-organs.Conclusion Moxibustion therapy is effective for many clinical disorders

particularly for those of the department of internal medicine and surgery.