DOCSLIB.ORG

Utilization of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Utilization of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Italia et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2015) 15:49 DOI 10.1186/s12906-015-0569-8 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among children from a German birth cohort (GINIplus): patterns, costs, and trends of use Salvatore Italia1,2*,HelmutBrand1, Joachim Heinrich3,DietrichBerdel4, Andrea von Berg4 and Silke Britta Wolfenstetter2 Abstract Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread among children in Germany and other European countries. Only a few studies are available on trends in pediatric CAM use over time. The study’s objective was to present updated results for prevalence, predictors, and costs of CAM use among German children and a comparison with findings from a previous follow-up of the same birth cohort. Methods: Data were collected for 3013 children on their utilization of medicinal products (during the last 4 weeks) and consultation with CAM providers (in the preceding year) from a German birth cohort study (GINIplus, 15-year follow-up) using a self-administered questionnaire. The reported medicinal CAMs were classified into six categories (homeopathy, herbal drugs, nutritionals, minerals and trace elements, microorganisms, further CAM). Drug prices were traced using pharmaceutical identification numbers (PZNs), or otherwise conservatively estimated. Finally, the results were compared with data obtained from the 10-year follow-up of the same birth cohort study by adopting the identical methodology. Results: In all, 26% of the reported 2489 drugs were medicinal CAM. The 4-week prevalence for homeopathy and herbal drug use was 7.5% and 5.6%, respectively. Some 13.9% of the children used at least one type of medicinal CAM in the preceding 4 weeks. The 1-year prevalence for consultation with CAM providers was 10.8%. From the drugs identified as CAM, 53.7% were homeopathic remedies, and 30.8% were herbal drugs. Factors associated with higher medicinal CAM use were female gender, residing in Munich, and higher maternal education. A homeopathy user utilized on average homeopathic remedies worth EUR 15.28. The corresponding figure for herbal drug users was EUR 16.02, and EUR 18.72 for overall medicinal CAM users. Compared with the 10-year follow-up, the prevalence of homeopathy use was more than halved (−52%) and dropped substantially for herbal drug use (−36%) and overall CAM use (−38%) as well. (Continued on next page) * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Department of International Health, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands 2Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Management, Neuherberg, Germany Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2015 Italia et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Italia et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2015) 15:49 Page 2 of 10 (Continued from previous page) Conclusion: CAM use among 15-year-old children in the GINIplus cohort is popular, but decreased noticeably compared with children from the same cohort at the age of 10 years. This is possibly mainly because German health legislation normally covers CAM for children younger than 12 years only. Keywords: Complementary therapies, CAM, Homeopathy, Phytotherapy, Child, Germany, Drug utilization, Socioeconomic factors, Trends Background Methods Therapy approaches that are not part of conventional medi- Study population cine are often referred to as complementary and alternative GINIplus (German Infant study on the Influence of Nutri- medicine (CAM), although there is no universally valid def- tion Intervention plus environmental and genetic influ- inition of CAM. However, there seems to be an unbroken ences on allergy development) is a German birth cohort high demand for such kinds of therapy approaches in the study [11]. It started with 5991 healthy full-term newborns European population and outside Europe as well. Some re- (children with a birth weight <2500 g were not eligible for cently published reviews give updated overviews on the inclusion), who were recruited between September 1995 prevalence of CAM use in adults [1,2] and children [3,4]. and June 1998 from obstetric clinics in an urban region of Owing to different methodology and CAM definition, the southern Germany (Munich) and a more rural region in findings of the included studies on CAM use vary the western part of Germany (Wesel). widely with respect to the prevalence and predictors of For the 15-year follow-up, 3895 participants were con- use. For instance, overall CAM use in children without tacted between January 2011 and September 2013. With re- chronic conditions was reported to be between 1.8% and gard to the season, 27% of the questionnaires were collected 87.6%, depending on included CAM modalities, country, in winter (January–March), 29% in spring (April–June), 26% and underlying recall period [3]. in summer (July–September), and the remaining 18% in au- When looking at specific CAM categories, many of tumn (October–December). Among other things, the the reviewed studies listed homeopathy and herbal drugs main questionnaire assessed the children’s gender, parental among the most popular types of CAM. Within Europe, income and education, and consultation with various alter- Germany ranks between the countries with the highest native health care providers during the previous 12 months. prevalence rates for homeopathy and herbal drug use in In addition to the main questionnaire, a self-adminis- children. For homeopathy, prevalence rates of 27.7% tered questionnaire on the consumption of drugs and (1-year prevalence) [5] and 14.3% (4-week prevalence) medicinal products was included based on an almost [6] were reported in German children. Other European identical questionnaire that had already been adopted countries with high prevalence rates for homeopathy use for the 10-year follow-up. The design of the question- are The Netherlands with 14.6% (1-year prevalence) [7] naire on drug utilization corresponds to the validated and the UK with 16.9% (lifetime use) [8]. With concern to questionnaire from the German KiGGS-Study that was herbal drugs, a 2010 publication found 85.5% of German conducted with 17641 children [12]. Parents/legal guard- children [9] using herbal drugs (lifetime use). In Turkey, ians were invited to report the drugs their child used dur- the prevalence of pediatric use of herbal drugs was 58.6% ing the last 4 weeks by entering the drugs’ names into (1-year prevalence) [10]. The evidently high popularity of designated spaces or attaching the empty drug packages to non-conventional medicine in Germany and other coun- the questionnaire. tries makes CAM use a relevant public health topic. The exact number of drugs used was assessed by an add- This article presents data from the recently completed itional question in case the limited number (five) of desig- 15-year follow-up of a German birth cohort study. The aim nated spaces would not suffice to report all drugs utilized. was to extract prevalence rates and predictors for the Moreover, the participants were also asked to enter utilization of various CAM modalities (homeopathy use, the pharmaceutical identification number (PZN) of the herbal drug use, medicinal CAM utilization in general, and reported drugs. The PZN, which is printed on the drug consultation with CAM providers). Furthermore, expendi- package, precisely identifies the drug utilized and pro- tures on pediatric CAM use were analyzed. Finally, in order vides further information such as the size of the package, to detect possible time trends and differences in CAM use, the dosage, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, the listed the results were compared with the findings from the 10- price, etc. year follow-up of a smaller but similarly composed sample To avoid ambiguity of interpretation, the authors fromthesamebirthcohort. would like to note that we also considered preparations Italia et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2015) 15:49 Page 3 of 10 that are no medicinal products in the strict sense (e.g., area, maternal educational background, and parental in- nutritional supplements), but were reported as drugs come background was very similar to the composition of utilized by the participating children. the GINIplus cohort of the 15-year follow-up (n = 3013). Furthermore, the same methodology (drug classification, Drug classification logistic regression model, etc.) was adopted for the analysis All reported drugs were classified into several therapeutic of both follow-ups. categories. The following medicinal CAM modalities were defined and extracted from the entity of reported drugs: Outcome definition and statistical analysis (1) Homeopathic/anthroposophic drugs (afterwards Several outcomes were defined for the statistical analysis. referred to as ‘Homeopathy’): Drugs that have been Those participants who reported utilization
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the UK and Germany Research and Evidence on Supply and Demand
    Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society/ Deutsch-Britische Stiftung für das Studium der Industriegesellschaft Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the UK and Complementary and Germany – Research and Evidence on Supply Demand Germany – Research Anna Dixon, Annette Riesberg,Weinbrenner, Susanne Omer Saka, Le Grand, Julian Busse Reinhard 2003 Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the UK and Germany Research and Evidence on Supply and Demand Anna Dixon1,3, Annette Riesberg2,3, Susanne Weinbrenner2, Omer Saka1, Julian Le Grand1, Reinhard Busse2,3 1 LSE Health and Social Care, Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom 2 Department of Health Care Management, Institute of Health Sciences, Technische Universität, Berlin, Germany 3 European Observatory on Health Care Systems and Policies Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society © Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE IN THE UK AND GERMANY Through its work in Germany and in the United Kingdom, the Anglo-German Foundation seeks to foster dialogue and co-operation between the two countries. It supports research projects, seminars and conferences promoting the exchange of experience and ideas in the social, political and economic areas. Die Deutsch-Britische Stiftung möchte mittels ihrer Tätigkeit in Deutschland und Grossbritannien den Dialog und die Zusammenarbeit der beiden Staaten fördern. Sie unterstützt gemeinsame Forschungsprojekte,
    [Show full text]
  • Anthroposophic Medicine in Paediatric Oncology in Germany: Results of a Population-Based Retrospective Parental Survey
    Pediatr Blood Cancer Anthroposophic Medicine in Paediatric Oncology in Germany: Results of a Population-Based Retrospective Parental Survey † ‡ Alfred Laengler,¨ MD1,2,, * Claudia Spix, PhD,3 Friedrich Edelhauser,¨ MD,2 David D. Martin, MD,4 § Genn Kameda, MD,1 Peter Kaatsch, PhD,3 and Georg Seifert, MD5 Background. Anthroposophic medicine (AM) is frequently status. Physicians played a relevant role for users of AM both in utilised in German-speaking countries as a complementary and alter- procuring information (24% vs. 11%; P < 0.001) and in prescribing native medicine (CAM) treatment approach. Procedure. This study medicines and therapies (73.0% vs. 34.9%; P < 0.001) compared to presents results of a retrospective parental questionnaire compar- users of other CAM. AM-users communicate more frequently with ing responses of AM-users and users of other CAM in paediatric their physicians about the use of CAM treatments (89.8% vs. 63.9%) oncology in Germany. The differences between these two groups and recommend CAM more often than other CAM-users (95.9% vs. are investigated with respect to usage, associated demographic char- 87%). Conclusions. AM plays a major role in paediatric oncology in acteristics and previous experience with CAM. Results. Ninety-eight Germany. Patients using AM sustain treatment and therapies consid- patients (27%) of the 367 CAM-users were exposed to anthropo- erably longer than patients using other CAM treatments. Furthermore, sophic treatments or therapies. Treatment duration amounted to a most families who had used AM before their child was diagnosed with median 619 days for AM and 225 days for other CAM treatments.
    [Show full text]
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Ayurveda for Health Professionals Alma Mater Europaea – ECM University (AMEU) Maribor, Slovenia
    Postgraduate Certificate in Ayurveda for Health Professionals Alma Mater Europaea – ECM University (AMEU) Maribor, Slovenia 30 ECTS Credits (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) PROSPECTUS 13. April 2021 - 10 April 2022 a one year part-time programme (online and with residential blocks) Table of Contents The Program Structure at a Glance ........................................................................................3 Option to Complete the Alma Mater Europaea Masters in Health Sciences ........3 Assessment ......................................................................................................................................3 What the Certificate Will Enable You to Achieve ..............................................................4 Evidence-Based Practices in Integrative Medicine ...........................................................4 Educational Objectives ................................................................................................................5 The Contribution of International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation (IMAVF) ........6 Entry Requirements ......................................................................................................................6 How to Apply ..................................................................................................................................6 Enrolment Deadline .....................................................................................................................6 Language of Instruction .............................................................................................................6
    [Show full text]
  • Integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Into Family Practices in Germany: Results of a National Survey
    eCAM Advance Access published March 17, 2009 eCAM 2009;Page 1 of 8 doi:10.1093/ecam/nep019 Original Article Integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine into Family Practices in Germany: Results of a National Survey Stefanie Joos1, Berthold Musselmann1,2 and Joachim Szecsenyi1 1Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, University Hospital Heidelberg, Voßstrasse 2, 69115 Heidelberg and 2Practice of Family Medicine, Academic Teaching Practice, University of Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 120, 69168 Wiesloch, Germany More than two-thirds of patients in Germany use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) provided either by physicians or non-medical practitioners (‘Heilpraktiker’). There is little information about the number of family physicians (FPs) providing CAM. Given the widespread public interest in the use of CAM, this study aimed to ascertain the use of and attitude toward CAM among FPs in Germany. A postal questionnaire developed based on qualitatively derived data was sent to 3000 randomly selected FPs in Germany. A reminder letter including a postcard (containing a single question about CAM use in practice and reasons for non-particpation in the survey) was sent to all FPs who had not returned the questionnaire. Of the 3000 FPs, 1027 (34%) returned the questionnaire and 444 (15%) returned the postcard. Altogether, 886 of the 1471 responding FPs (60%) reported using CAM in their practice. A positive attitude toward CAM was indicated by 503 FPs (55%), a rather negative attitude by 127 FPs (14%). Chirotherapy, relaxation and neural therapy were rated as most beneficial CAM therapies by FPs, whereas neural therapy, phytotherapy and acupuncture were the most commonly used therapies in German family practices.
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Status and Regulation of CAM in Europe
    A pan-European research network for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Final report of CAMbrella Work Package 2 (leader: Vinjar Fønnebø) Legal status and regulation of CAM in Europe Part I - CAM regulations in the European countries Solveig Wiesener, Torkel Falkenberg, Gabriella Hegyi, Johanna Hök, Paolo Roberti di Sarsina, Vinjar Fønnebø This report is part of a collection of reports created as deliverables of the project CAMbrella funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission (FP7-HEALTH-2009-3.1-3, Coordination and support action, Grant-Agreement No. 241951, Jan 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2012); Coordinator: Wolfgang Weidenhammer, Competence Centre for Complementary Medicine and Naturopathy (head: Dieter Melchart), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Techn. Univ. Munich, Germany CAMbrella - Work Package 2 Report Part I Page 2 Solveig Wiesener1, Torkel Falkenberg2,3, Gabriella Hegyi4, Johanna Hök2,3, Paolo Roberti di Sarsina5, Vinjar Fønnebø1: Legal status and regulation of CAM in Europe. Part I - CAM regulations in the European countries Final report of CAMbrella Work Package 2 (leader: Vinjar Fønnebø) 1 National Research Center in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NAFKAM), University of Tromsø, Norway 2 Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Unit for Studies of Integrative Care, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden 3 IC – The Integrative Care Science Center, Järna, Sweden 4 Department for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Pecsi Tudomanyegyetem – Medical School / University
    [Show full text]
  • Doctors of Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Ayurveda and Medical Qigong
    International Appeal to Stop 5G on Earth and in Space DOCTORS OF NATUROPATHY, HOMEOPATHY, AYURVEDA AND MEDICAL QIGONG ARGENTINA CELSA RITA BRUENNER , Médica Tocoginecologa y Homeopata, CORDOBA, CORDOBA Marina Caride , Buenos aires, Buenos Aires Alejandro Cortiglia , Doctor, Lujan, Buenos Aires Aman Diaz , Terciario, Mar del plata, Bs As AUSTRALIA Sarah Acheson , Adv Dip Naturopathy, Perth, TAS Tanya Adams , Advanced diploma, Naturopathy, Health, Buderim, Qld Rachel Aldridge , Bachelor of Commerce, Masters of Marketing, Adv diploma Naturopathy, Naturopath, Baulkham Hills, NSW Nena Aleschewski , Glenorchy, Tasmania Paul Alexander , N.D., Naturopath, MT.HAWTHORN, WA Samantha Allan , BHSc, Traralgon, Victoria Val Allenl , ND, Perth, Western Australia Steven Bartlett , Diploma in Health Science, Master Ayurvedic Diploma and others., Naturopath, Maleny, Queensland Maria Bass , Melbourne, Victoria Susi Baumgartner , Melbourne, Victoria Llewanna Bell , Advance diploma of applied science, Perth, WA Brigitte Bennett , Adv. Diploma of Naturopathy, Melbourne, VIC Tanya Bentley , RAVENSHOE, Queensland Rebecca Bibbens , Bachelor of Health Science, Naturopath, Canberra, ACT Manon Bocquet , Bachelor Health Science, Scarborough, Western Australia Nara-Beth Bonfiglio , Clinical nutritionist., Helena valley, WA julia boon , billinudgel, NSW matarisvan boon , billinudgel, NSW Glenyss Bourne , Diploma of Naturopathy (ND), Naturopath and Energy healer, Frankston, Victoria Jewels Bowering , Health care/ parent, Sydney, Blackheath Zoe Boyce , Bachelor in Early
    [Show full text]
  • The Modernisation of Traditional Healing in South Africa: Healers, Biomedicine and the State
    The Modernisation of Traditional Healing in South Africa: Healers, Biomedicine and the State Dissertation Zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) vorgelegt der Philosophischen Fakultät I der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften und historische Kulturwissenschaften von Julia Zenker verteidigt am 29.11.2011 Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Richard Rottenburg Prof. Dr. Stacey Langwick Zusammenfassung Thema meiner Arbeit ist die Modernisierung traditioneller Medizin in Südafrika. Ich habe untersucht, wie traditionelle HeilerInnen ihre Beziehungen mit einer sich wandelnden sozialen Welt erleben und verhandeln, und wie sie sich dabei aktiv in der Arena südafrikanischer Gesundheitspolitik positionieren. Ein meiner Ansicht nach neuer Zugang zu diesem Thema ist die Verwendung von Webers Rationalisierungskonzept, welches auf einen zentralen Punkt in meiner Arbeit hinausläuft: Es ist unvermeidbar, das die Praxis traditioneller Medizin verrechtlicht wird, um dem Prinzip der Gleichrechtlichkeit zu entsprechen sowie bestimmte Rechte und Verantwortlichkeiten gewährleisten zu können. Mit dem Prozess der Legalisierung ist zwangsläufig die Standardisierung einzelner Elemente traditioneller Medizin verbunden, damit diese zum einen für den Staat, zum anderen für die Wissenschaft lesbar gemacht werden kann. In der Einleitung diskutiere ich wichtige Modernisierungstheorien, um daraus anschließend meinen eigenen analytischen Rahmen sowie die Kernargumente meiner Arbeit zu entwickeln. Ich zeige, dass ein bestimmtes
    [Show full text]
  • Volker Scheid
    essay ‘We should be stable and firm and confident about who we are. Then, if we find there is no niche for us in this modern world, then that is just too bad.’ An interview with Volker Scheid Sarah Price asks a leading scholar, practitioner and research there in my school holidays. So you can say that I grew I up with herbs and herbal director about issues such as education, integration and medicine. the place of Chinese medicine and its practitioners in the modern world. How did you get into Chinese medicine? This was the 70s, hippies and left-wing Can I ask you first a bit about your politics. Becoming a herbalist like my background. Where did you grow up? father’s boss appealed to me and I guess I come from Gebhardshain, a little village it also resonated with the spirit of the in Germany. It’s in a very rural area called time. In Germany you can only register as Westerwald that seems to be a terra a Heilpraktiker when you are 26. So after incognita even for most Germans. My father I finished school I couldn’t immediately was a gardener. He grew Western herbs for go for that. Instead, I did various other a very successful Heilpraktiker (practitioner things instead including a two-year of natural medicine), who used only herbs. apprentice ship as a gardener. The way This person was the closest I have seen to most Heilpraktiker in Germany work is what in Chinese medicine we would call influenced by naturopathy. That means a laozhongyi.
    [Show full text]
  • Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Siblings of Pediatric Cancer Patients in Germany
    Open Journal of Pediatrics, 2014, 4, 93-101 Published Online March 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojped http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojped.2014.41013 Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Siblings of Pediatric Cancer Patients in Germany. A Population-Based Survey Sven Gottschling1*, Sascha Meyer2, Alfred Längler3,4, Friedrich Ebinger5,6, Patric Bialas7, Benjamin Gronwald1 1Centre of Palliative Care and Pediatric Pain, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany 2University Children’s Hospital, Department of Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg; Germany 3Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Department of integrative Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Herdecke, Germany 4Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Health, Center for integrative Medicine, Witten, Germany 5St. Vincenz-Krankenhaus Paderborn, Department of Pediatrics, Paderborn, Germany 6University Children’s Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany 7Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Saarland University Hospital, Homburg, Germany Email: *[email protected] Received 14 February 2014; revised 8 March 2014; accepted 15 March 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children with cancer is common and probably increasing. However data concerning use of CAM in siblings of children with an oncologic disease are missing so far. We conducted a population-based survey over a one-year period with 233 participants. Of the 209 respondents (90% response rate) 20% reported CAM use from the time on when the sibling was diagnosed to have cancer, compared to a prevalence rate of 48% be- fore cancer diagnosis.
    [Show full text]
  • Commentary NO
    Institut C.D. HOWE Institute commentary NO. 541 Regulating Alternative Medicines: Disorder in the Borderlands With the use of alternative medicines increasing in Western countries, along with concerns about standards, an approach to regulating certain popular forms of these medicines is needed. Regulation should be calibrated to the degree of risk entailed. Michael J. Trebilcock and Kanksha Mahadevia Ghimire The C.D. Howe Institute’s Commitment to Quality, Independence and Nonpartisanship About The The C.D. Howe Institute’s reputation for quality, integrity and Authors nonpartisanship is its chief asset. Michael J. Trebilcock Its books, Commentaries and E-Briefs undergo a rigorous two-stage is Professor of Law and review by internal staff, and by outside academics and independent University Professor experts. The Institute publishes only studies that meet its standards for at the Faculty of Law, analytical soundness, factual accuracy and policy relevance. It subjects its University of Toronto, review and publication process to an annual audit by external experts. and a Research Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. As a registered Canadian charity, the C.D. Howe Institute accepts donations to further its mission from individuals, private and public Kanksha Mahadevia organizations, and charitable foundations. It accepts no donation Ghimire that stipulates a predetermined result or otherwise inhibits the is an S.J.D. Candidate, independence of its staff and authors. The Institute requires that its University of Toronto, and holds an LL.M., University authors disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest of which of Toronto, and B.S.L, LL.B. they are aware.
    [Show full text]
  • Anthroposophic Vs. Conventional Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain: a Prospective Comparative Study
    302 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH July 26, 2007 Eur J Med Res (2007) 12: 302-310 © I. Holzapfel Publishers 2007 ANTHROPOSOPHIC VS. CONVENTIONAL THERAPY FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY H. J. Hamre1, C. M. Witt2, A. Glockmann1, K. Wegscheider3, R. Ziegler4, S. N. Willich2, H. Kiene1 1Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology, Freiburg, Germany 2Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany 3Institute for Statistics and Econometrics, University of Hamburg 4Society for Cancer Research, Arlesheim, Switzerland Abstract INTRODUCTION Objective: To compare anthroposophic treatment (eu- rythmy, rhythmical massage or art therapy; coun- Two-thirds of adults experience low back pain (LBP) selling, anthroposophic medication) and conventional at some point in life [1]. In several studies LBP was treatment for low back pain (LBP) under routine con- the second most common symptom for which patients ditions. saw a physician [2]. LBP causes considerable morbidity Methods: 62 consecutive outpatients from 38 medical and impairs quality of life; in a survey of German practices in Germany, consulting an anthroposophic adults, 23% suffered current back pain with high pain (A-) or conventional (C-) physician with LBP of ≥ 6 intensity or severe functional impairment [3]. weeks duration participated in a prospective non-ran- 85% of LBP cases are non-specific, i. e. without a domised comparative study. Main outcomes were diagnosable patho-anatomical condition [2;4]. In pri- Hanover Functional Ability Questionnaire (HFAQ), mary care, non-specific LBP is usually treated with LBP Rating Scale Pain Score (LBPRS), Symptom medication (paracetamol, non-steroid anti-inflamma- Score, and SF-36 after 6 and 12 months.
    [Show full text]
  • The System of Anthroposophic Medicine
    The System of Anthroposophic Medicine Conventional Medicine Homeopathy Anthroposophic Medicine Anthroposophic medicinal Phytotherapy products and therapies Anthroposophic nurses, dietary, physiotherapy, eurythmy therapy, therapeutic arts and psychotherapy The System of Anthroposophic Medicine Publishing organisation: This publication is a joint initiative of the organisations of anthroposophic International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA) doctors, patients, pharmacists and the international coordination for anthro­ Rue du Trône 194 po sophic medicine/Medical Section Goetheanum. 1050 Brussels Belgium It aims to provide: http://www.ivaa.info • an overview of the use of anthroposophic medicine in the prevention, Furthermore the following organisations have given their contribution: diagnosis and treatment of disease European Federation of Patients´ Associations for Anthroposophic Medicine • a summary of its range of therapeutic approaches (EFPAM) • background on anthroposophic pharmacy 13 Rue Gassendi • information on research, safety and effectiveness of anthroposophic F-75614 Paris, France medicine. http://www.efpam.eu It also sets anthroposophic medicine in the context of European regulations. International Association of Anthroposophic Pharmacists (IAAP) Summary Goetheanum Medical Section Anthroposophic medicine integrates conventional medicine with an anthropo- 4143 Dornach sophic * perception of the human being. It starts with a conventional diagnosis, Switzerland but includes in its assessment of the patient the imbalances of the body and a http://www.iaap.org.uk psychological, mental and spiritual dimension. It takes a holistic approach to health and offers specific therapies enhanced according to anthroposophic principles. It uses both conventional and anthroposophic medicinal products. Both the treatment approach and the use and selection of medicinal products and other therapies are highly individualised and intend to bring about a ‘process of development’ within the patient, reinforcing the patient’s natural self-healing ability.
    [Show full text]