Diagnostic profiles and prescribing patterns in everyday anthroposophic medical practice--a prospective multi-centre study.
BACKGROUND
Although anthroposophic medicine has been used for more than 80 years and global interest in complementary treatments is increasing, a comprehensive and long-term description of everyday anthroposophic care is still lacking. Our study aims to evaluate how anthroposophic medicine is practised under everyday conditions.


METHODS
A total of 38 primary-care physicians in Germany participated in this prospective, multi-centre observational study. Prescriptions, diagnoses, and non-pharmacological therapies were reported for each consecutive patient.


RESULTS
In 2005, 95,116 prescriptions for 32,839 patients (56.2% children, 57.3% female) were recorded. The median duration of consultation depended on physician specialization (general practitioners: 9.5 min; paediatricians: 8.1 min). The most frequent single diagnoses were acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), otitis media, and bronchitis in children; hypertension, breast cancer, and depressive episodes in adult females; and hypertension, URTI, and asthma in adult males. Anthroposophic remedies accounted for 41.8% of all drugs prescribed. The odds ratio (OR) for receiving an anthroposophic remedy was very high for cancer (OR = 4.5; 95% CI: 4.2-4.8) and >1 for dorsopathies (OR = 1.5; CI: 1.3-1.6), otitis media (OR = 1.3; CI: 1.2-1.3), and URTI (OR = 1.1; CI: 1.1-1.2). Of the 5,289 therapeutic procedures prescribed, 27% were anthroposophic.


CONCLUSIONS
A broad range of anthroposophic remedies and non-pharmacological therapies are prescribed for a specific set of diseases in everyday anthroposophic practice. Particularly, patients <60 years received anthroposophic care. Our findings will help in the planning and implementation of further studies.
Jeschke
Elke
E
Havelhoehe Research Institute, Berlin, Germany. ejeschke@havelhoehe.de
Ostermann
Thomas
T
Tabali
Manuela
M
Bockelbrink
Angelina
A
Witt
Claudia M
CM
Willich
Stefan N
SN
Matthes
Harald
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000887:Anthroposophy; D002648:Child; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D003933:Diagnosis; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult