Developing and evaluating complementary therapy services: part 2. Examining the effects of treatment on health status.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect on patient health status of an outpatient service providing acupuncture, osteopathy, and homeopathy.


METHODS
Pragmatic quasiexperimental design with waiting-list control group.


METHODS
A district general hospital in the United Kingdom.


METHODS
All patients referred to the service during the study period.


METHODS
The Short Form 36-Item Health Status Survey (SF-36).


RESULTS
With the exception of the Physical Functioning scale, statistical differences in scores were found between the treatment and control group on all SF-36 scales. Sensitivity analysis designed to deal with nonresponse supports the robustness of the results.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of an outpatient acupuncture, osteopathy and homeopathy service in terms of benefits to patients' health status.
Richardson
J
J
School of Integrated Health, University of Westminster, Research Council for Complementary Medicine, London, United Kingdom. janet.richardson@kcl.ac.uk
D026881:Acupuncture / Q000592:standards; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006705:Homeopathy / Q000592:standards; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010021:Osteopathic Medicine / Q000592:standards; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D006113:United Kingdom