ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the intrinsic effects of individually prescribed homoeopathic medicines. DESIGN: Randomised double blind placebo controlled study. SETTING: Paediatric outpatient department of university hospital. PATIENTS: 175 children with frequently recurring upper respiratory tract infections. Of the 170 children evaluable, 86 were randomised to homoeopathic medicines (47 boys, 39 girls; median age at start 4.2 years; median number of episodes in past year 4) and 84 to placebo (43 boys, 41 girls; median age at start 3.6 years; median number of episodes in past year 4). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mean score for daily symptoms, number of antibiotic courses, and number of adenoidectomies and tonsillectomies over one year of follow up. RESULTS: The mean daily symptom score was 2.61 in the placebo group and 2.21 in the treatment group (difference 0.41; 95% confidence interval -0.02 to 0.83). In both groups the use of antibiotics was greatly reduced compared with that in the year before entering the trial (from 73 to 33 in the treatment group and from 69 to 43 in the placebo group). The proportion of children in the treatment group having adenoidectomies was lower in the treatment group (16%, 8/50) than in the placebo group (21%, 9/42). The proportion having tonsillectomies was the same in both groups (5%). CONCLUSION: Individually prescribed homoeopathic medicines seem to add little to careful counselling of children with recurrent upper respiratory tract infection in reducing the daily burden of symptoms, use of antibiotics, and need for adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy.
Subject(s)
Homeopathy , Respiratory Tract Infections/therapy , Adenoidectomy/statistics & numerical data , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Belgium/epidemiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Double-Blind Method , Drug Utilization , Family Health , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Ear Ventilation/statistics & numerical data , Otitis Media/epidemiology , Otitis Media/therapy , Recurrence , Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology , Tonsillectomy/statistics & numerical data , Tonsillitis/epidemiology , Tonsillitis/therapyABSTRACT
The effects of homoeopathic medicines on children suffering from recurrent upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) were studied in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted at the paediatric outpatients department of the university hospital of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam from 1987 to 1992. The study was designed to meet both the requirements of proper homoeopathic practice and the current standards of a clinical trial. The purpose of a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial is to identify the effects of the agents under investigation by equalizing the effects of other factors that may influence outcome. The object of the trial, eligibility criteria, follow-up period, treatments and concurrent interventions, data collection and effect measures are discussed in the light of homoeopathic thinking