title: Prospective Evaluation of Few Homeopathic Rubrics of Kent's Repertory From Bayesian Perspective.
abstract: Absolute grading system of homeopathic repertories poses substantial threat to reliability; however, it may be resolved by evaluating rubrics prospectively using likelihood ratio (LR). The authors evaluated few "physical general" rubrics from Kent's repertory-"chilly," "hot," "ambithermal," "preference for hot/cold food," "desire/aversion for fish/egg/meat/sour/pungent/salt/sweet/bitter"-prospectively in West Bengal, India, for 1.5 years using the Outcome Related to Impact on Daily Living scale. Per symptom/rubric, LRs < 1.5 were discarded. A total of 2039 encounters were analyzed for thermal relations and 4715 for desires/aversions for specific food items. Comparison with Kent's repertory revealed discrepancies. One new rubric with corresponding medicines was suggested to be introduced, new entries of medicines were recommended, and some seemed to maintain their ascribed importance. The authors refrained from converting LRs into typefaces prematurely; still they propose introducing LR to repertories for a structural update, changing its use, and enabling homeopaths to make more reliable predictions.
authors: Independent Researcher, Champsara, Baidyabati, Hooghly, West Bengal, India dr.mkoley@gmail.com.
authors: Munmun
authors: M
authors: Koley
authors: Independent Researcher, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, India.
authors: Subhranil
authors: S
authors: Saha
authors: Midnapore Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Midnapore, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
authors: Kaushik Deb
authors: KD
authors: Das
authors: Haripal Sahadeb Gram Panchayet Health Center, Haripal, Hooghly, West Bengal, India.
authors: Sushabhan
authors: S
authors: Roy
authors: Mahesh Bhattacharyya Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Doomurjala, Howrah, West Bengal, India.
authors: Rachna
authors: R
authors: Goenka
authors: Upasana Diagnostic Center, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors: Pulak Roy
authors: PR
authors: Chowdhury
authors: The Calcutta Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors: Himangsu
authors: H
authors: Hait
authors: Midnapore Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Midnapore, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
authors: Chapal Kanti
authors: CK
authors: Bhattacharyya
authors: All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors: Sanjoy Kumar
authors: SK
authors: Sadhukhan
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D006705:Homeopathy; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Bayesian analysis; homeopathic repertory; homeopathic rubrics; likelihood ratio