A randomized experiment of the effects of including alternative medicine in the mandatory benefit package of health insurance funds in Switzerland

Bürgi, Martin; Theiss, Renee; Sommer, Jürg H

doi:10.1016/s0965-2299(99)80083-1

Cited by 20 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Recent data suggest that including complementary therapies as treatment options increases overall healthcare costs for adults because CAM therapies are used as "add-ons" rather than replacements. 23 Similar studies have not been reported for children.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Paediatric Oncology Patients in Singapore

Chan

et al. 2006

Ann Acad Med Singap

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Introduction: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is garnering increasing interest and acceptance among the general population. Although usage is thought to be widespread among paediatric cancer patients, local studies have not been done. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and predictors of CAM usage in paediatric cancer patients in a single institution. Materials and Methods: Parents of 73 paediatric cancer patients treated at KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data about the types of CAM therapies used, motivations for use, adverse effects, costs and discussion of usage with the patient’s physician were obtained. General perceptions towards CAM and conventional medicine were explored. A subsequent telephone survey enquired about spirituality, benefits of CAM use and overall satisfaction with the therapies. Results: Two-thirds of patients used at least 1 CAM treatment, mainly as supportive adjuncts to conventional cancer treatment. Dietary changes, health supplements, herbal tea and bird’s nest were the most common therapies used. Few patients (8.1%) consulted a CAM practitioner. Positive predictors of CAM usage included being of Chinese race, the practice of Buddhism or Taoism, the use of CAM prior to diagnosis, perception of CAM effectiveness and dissatisfaction with conventional treatment. Significantly, 55.1% of the parents had not discussed their CAM usage with their child’s physician. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of paediatric cancer patients utilises CAM therapies, often without their physician’s knowledge. Healthcare providers need to remain cognisant of the potential implications of CAM usage in order to proactively counsel patients. This would ensure that conventional therapy remains uncompromised.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Paediatric Oncology Patients in Singapore

Chan

et al. 2006

Ann Acad Med Singap

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“…For example, the current version of the database covers only information related to ginseng, ginkgo and dong quai. Because small populations possibly as low as 1 % exclusively use alternative medicine in Greek [42], more HDIs of the other herbal medicines need to be included, especially for patients with a variety of debilitating neurological and psychiatric disorders [34] or for the elderly who use alternative medicine, including Chinese medicine, and who potentially also use Western medicine [43]. The Chinese information content, including medical terms, can be further improved via the readability assessment tool to make it more easily understood by the general public because the content is written by professionals with medical backgrounds who are not experts in language communications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing a bilingual website with validated database for Herb and Western medicine interactions using Ginseng, Ginkgo and Dong Quai as examples

Chen

et al. 2019

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundConcerns have been raised regarding the efficacy and safety resulting from the potential interactions of herbs with Western medications due to the use of both herbs and Western medicine by the general public. Information obtained from the web must be critically evaluated prior to its use in making decisions.DescriptionThis study aimed to construct an herb-drug interaction (HDI) website (https://drug-herb-interaction.netlify.com) with a critically reviewed database. Node.js was used to store the database by running JavaScript. Vue.js is a front-end framework used for web interface development. A total of 135 sets of information related to the interactions of ginseng, ginkgo and dong quai with Western medicine from the literature identified in Medline were collected, followed by critical reviews to prepare nineteen items of information for each HDI monograph. A total of 80 sets of validated HDIs met all criteria and were further assessed at the individual reliability level (likely, possible, and unevaluable) and labeled with the “interaction” item. This query system of the website can be operated in both the Chinese and English languages to obtain all monographs on HDIs in the database, including bilingual interaction data. The database of HDI monographs can be updated by simply uploading a new version of the information Excel file. The designed “smart search” module, in addition to the “single search”, is convenient for requesting multiple searches. Among the “likely” interactions (n = 26), 50% show negative HDIs. Ten of these can increase the effect of the Western drug, and the others (n = 3) imply that the HDI can be beneficial.ConclusionsThe current study provides a website platform and 80 sets of validated bilingual HDIs involving ginseng, ginkgo and dong quai in an online database. A search of HDI monographs related to these three herbs can be performed with this bilingual, easy-to-use query website, which is feasible for professionals and the general public. The identified reliability level for each HDI may assist readers’ decisions regarding whether taking Western medications concomitant with one of three herbal medicinal foods is safe or whether caution is required due to potentially serious outcomes.

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“…For example [1], a decrease in admissions to hospital outpatient services and pharmaceutical utilization has been reported when complementary medicine was used in conjunction with conventional medicine. However, some data have suggested that including complementary medicine may increase overall costs for adults as it is used as an “add on” rather than a replacement [2]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allopathic versus Homeopathic Strategies and the Recurrence of Prescriptions: Results from a Pharmacoeconomic Study in Italy

Basili¹,

Lagona

Sarsina

et al. 2011

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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This is a pharmaeconomic study to assess the impact of different, cost-specific pharmacological strategies on the recurrence rate of prescriptions in the treatment of cold symptoms. Data were obtained from a prospective cohort study reporting individual prescriptions histories of subjects experiencing cold symptoms, obtained by a stratified random sample of 316 subjects, clustered into 139 Italian families, followed up for 40 months. Costs of homeopathic and allopathic treatments were recorded within each prescription. A Cox proportional hazards model with random effects was exploited to regress time elapsed between subsequent prescriptions over the relative difference between homeopathic- and allopathic-related costs, adjusting for age and gender and accounting for unobserved individual heterogeneity. Relative risks of event (prescription) re-occurrence have been estimated. The recurrence rate of prescriptions raise when allopathic strategies are preferred to homeopathic alternatives. No significant differences were observed between gender groups, while age was marginally significant. Inter-subjects heterogeneity was not significant.

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A randomized experiment of the effects of including alternative medicine in the mandatory benefit package of health insurance funds in Switzerland

Cited by 20 publications

References 3 publications

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Paediatric Oncology Patients in Singapore

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Paediatric Oncology Patients in Singapore

Constructing a bilingual website with validated database for Herb and Western medicine interactions using Ginseng, Ginkgo and Dong Quai as examples

Allopathic versus Homeopathic Strategies and the Recurrence of Prescriptions: Results from a Pharmacoeconomic Study in Italy

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