title: Anthroposophic medicine in paediatric oncology in Germany: results of a population-based retrospective parental survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anthroposophic medicine (AM) is frequently utilised in German-speaking countries as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study presents results of a retrospective parental questionnaire comparing responses of AM-users and users of other CAM in paediatric oncology in Germany. The differences between these two groups are investigated with respect to usage, associated demographic characteristics and previous experience with CAM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-eight patients (27%) of the 367 CAM-users were exposed to anthroposophic treatments or therapies. Treatment duration amounted to a median 619 days for AM and 225 days for other CAM treatments. Most parents with previous experience of AM also used AM for treatment of their child's cancer disease. AM-users had a higher social status. Physicians played a relevant role for users of AM both in procuring information (24% vs. 11%; P < 0.001) and in prescribing medicines and therapies (73.0% vs. 34.9%; P < 0.001) compared to users of other CAM. AM-users communicate more frequently with their physicians about the use of CAM treatments (89.8% vs. 63.9%) and recommend CAM more often than other CAM-users (95.9% vs. 87%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AM plays a major role in paediatric oncology in Germany. Patients using AM sustain treatment and therapies considerably longer than patients using other CAM treatments. Furthermore, most families who had used AM before their child was diagnosed with cancer also used AM for the treatment of their child's cancer. Compared to other CAM treatments, patient satisfaction with AM appears to be very high.
authors.affiliation: Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Herdecke, Germany. a.laengler@gemeinschaftskrankenhaus.de
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Läengler
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spix
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Edelhäuser
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Genn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kameda
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaatsch
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seifert
mesh_terms: D000887:Anthroposophy; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires