Homeopathy and health related Quality of Life: A survey in six European countries

Anelli, Marco; Scheepers, Liesbeth; Sermeus, Guy; Wassenhoven, Michel Van

doi:10.1054/homp.2001.0015

Cited by 43 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The prominence of social networks as the main CAM information source is noted particularly, but not exclusively, in the UK [5,7,29,35,36,[54][55][56][57][58][59], Turkey [38,39,41,42,[60][61][62][63][64][65], Israel [66][67][68], Norway [11] and Ireland [69], and is confirmed by studies examining CAM across a range of countries [33,[70][71][72][73]. Citizens in these countries appear to draw considerably less frequently on biomedical professionals for information about CAM.…”

Section: Citizens' Information Sources About Cammentioning

confidence: 90%

What Attitudes and Needs Do Citizens in Europe Have in Relation to Complementary and Alternative Medicine?

et al. 2012

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Background: Surveys from several European countries suggest a European-wide increase in the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). To safeguard citizens’ rights concerning their healthcare, it is critical to gain an overview of citizens’ attitudes and to understand their expectations and needs regarding CAM. Methods: A review of literature was undertaken, based on systematic searches of the following electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, CINHAL, AMED, PsycINFO and PsycArticles; 189 articles met inclusion criteria. Articles were analysed thematically and their reporting quality assessed. Results: Despite the limited availability of research-based knowledge about citizens’ attitudes and needs concerning CAM in many European countries, some trends can be noted. Many citizens hold positive attitudes to CAM and wish for increasing access to CAM provision. Citizens call for impartial, reliable and trustworthy information to support informed decision-making, and some citizens wish for greater support and involvement of biomedical healthcare professionals in facilitating their healthcare choices. While citizens value distinct aspects of CAM practice, they are also critical consumers and support clear regulatory and educational frameworks to ensure the quality and safety of CAM provision and medicinal products. Conclusion: To gain knowledge on citizens’ needs and attitudes to CAM across Europe further research is required on 3 main issues: i) how citizens across Europe obtain information about CAM and the needs they may have for trustworthy information sources, ii) the local situations for accessing CAM and iii) citizens’ perspectives on the quality of care and safety of CAM provision and products.

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Section: Citizens' Information Sources About Cammentioning

confidence: 90%

What Attitudes and Needs Do Citizens in Europe Have in Relation to Complementary and Alternative Medicine?

et al. 2012

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“…This case illustrates that even though homeopathy is regarded by many as a non-effective and harmless intervention, homeopathic practice, even though many patients utilize it with high satisfaction [5,6], may not be entirely risk-free. Homeopathic medicines undergo a process of a stepwise dilution and vigorous shaking, until the content of the substance to be diluted is very low or non-existent in the solvent [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Handle Worsening of Condition during Treatment - Risk Assessment in Homeopathic Practice

Salamonsen¹,

Kristoffersen²

2015

Complement Med Res

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Even though homeopathy is regarded as a harmless intervention, homeopathic practice may not be entirely risk-free. Risk in homeopathy can be divided into direct and indirect risk. Direct risk refers to traditional adverse effects of an intervention; indirect risk is related to adverse effects in a treatment context, e.g. the practitioner. Available data suggest that the risk profile of homeopathic remedies in ultra-molecular potencies is minor, but there is a potential for indirect risk related to homeopathic practice. The concept of ‘homeopathic aggravation' which is unique for homeopathy may impose a particular risk as it allows the health status of the patients to deteriorate before there is a possible improvement. In that respect it is imperative to distinguish homeopathic aggravations from adverse effects. In a general risk evaluation of the homeopathic treatment it may be useful to assess the patient's symptoms in accordance with the natural course of disease and to evaluate any negative deviation from the normal curve as a possible adverse effect of the treatment. It is imperative that more emphasis is placed on patient safety during the education in homeopathy, and that students are trained to identify serious and red flag situations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Uncontrolled studies of homeopathy document consistent and sustained patient satisfaction (15). Patients used homeopathy for chronic, physical problems, as well as emotional complaints (14)(15)(16). The most frequent diagnoses for which they seek homeopathy are allergic rhinitis in adult males, headache in adult females and atopic dermatitis in children (17).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Adverse effects of homeopathy, what do we know? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Kristoffersen

Alræk

Liu

2016

Complementary Therapies in Medicine

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Highlights:• This review address the naive assumption that because of the generally diluted doses used homeopathy must be safe• This review touches the neglected issue of the distinction between homeopathic aggravation, adverse reactions and adverse effects• We found a similar risk for homeopathic treatment compared to controls such as placebo and conventional medicine. Words: 5,187 Abstract ObjectivesHomeopathy is a popular treatment modality among patient, however there is sparse research about adverse effects of homeopathy. A concept unique for homeopathy, is homeopathic aggravation that is understood as a transient worsening of the patients' symptoms before an 2 expected improvement occurs. From a risk perspective it is vital that a distinction between homeopathic aggravations and adverse effects is established. There is a lack of systematic information on how frequent adverse effects and homeopathic aggravations are reported in studies. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed. Design and settingSixteen electronic databases were searched for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). The searches were limited from the year 1995 to January 2011. Forty-one RCTs, with a total of 6.055 participants were included. A subtotal of 39 studies was included in the additional metaanalysis. ResultsA total of 28 trials (68%) reported adverse effects and five trials (12%) reported homeopathic aggravations. The meta-analysis (including six subgroup comparisons) demonstrated that no significant difference was found between homeopathy and control with OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.14, I 2 = 54%. More than two third of the adverse effects were classified as grade 1 (68%) and two third were classified as grade 2 (25%) and grade 3 (6%) according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Effects. Homeopathic aggravation was classified as grade 1 (98%) and grade 3 (2%), suggesting that homeopathic aggravations were reported to be less severe than adverse effects. The methodological quality according to a method recommended in the Cochrane handbook for RCTs, was high. ConclusionAdverse effects including the concept of homeopathic aggravations are commonly reported in trials. The meta-analysis demonstrated that the proportion of patients experiencing adverse effects to be similar for patients randomized to homeopathic treatment compared to patients randomized to placebo and conventional medicine.

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Homeopathy and health related Quality of Life: A survey in six European countries

Cited by 43 publications

References 5 publications

What Attitudes and Needs Do Citizens in Europe Have in Relation to Complementary and Alternative Medicine?

What Attitudes and Needs Do Citizens in Europe Have in Relation to Complementary and Alternative Medicine?

How to Handle Worsening of Condition during Treatment - Risk Assessment in Homeopathic Practice

Adverse effects of homeopathy, what do we know? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

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