Testing complementary and alternative therapies within a research protocol

Walker, Leslie G.; Anderson, Jeffery B.

doi:10.1016/s0959-8049(99)00199-9

Cited by 41 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Established randomized controlled trial designs preclude investigation of hands-on CAM therapies due to failures in achieving blinding [20]. Attempts at "pragmatic" RCT study design have allowed the therapy to be tailored to the patient, thus resolving issues of treatment variability [21]. Caspi et al introduced the term "dual-blind" to represent a methodology where the subject and an external evaluator, but not the practitioner, are blind to treatment [22].…”

Section: Panacea or Poison?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary, Alternative, Integrative, or Unconventional Medicine?

et al. 2001

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The Oncologist ® Schwartz Center RoundsMrs. J is an active and health conscious 45-year-old woman with an unremarkable medical history who presented with prolonged abdominal bloating and increasing abdominal girth. Evaluation revealed a large ovarian mass and ascites. The tumor marker CA-125 level was 2,068 U/ml. At surgical exploration she was found to have stage IIc grade 2-3 serous papillary ovarian carcinoma and was optimally cytoreduced. She received three cycles of paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapy. At re-evaluation Mrs. J had persisting elevation of CA-125 and was found to have ascites fluid on computerized tomography (CT) scan. She was referred for experimental therapies.Liver-function-test abnormalities were moderately abnormal. She drank very little alcohol and had no history of hepatitis. She felt entirely well and had no symptoms of progressive ovarian cancer. She was actively involved in aerobics and exercise.In light of her good prognostic factors and the ambiguous clinical picture, laparoscopy was recommended and was unremarkable. Washings and biopsy were negative for cancer confirming pathological complete remission.After the surgery, more careful questioning revealed that she had been taking megadoses of vitamin A for 3 months prior to the diagnosis. When she was informed that

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Section: Panacea or Poison?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary, Alternative, Integrative, or Unconventional Medicine?

et al. 2001

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“…There was a strong consensus that both qualitative and quantitative methods are valuable and should be combined in the CAM research agenda, e.g., qualitative methods to formulate hypothesis on mechanisms (which might be tested by quantitative methods) as well as in specific clinical studies, e.g., to assess reasons for dropouts, identification of the most relevant outcomes or to generally improve interventions [2,14,16,18,22,25,26,28,42,71,98,100,102,[107][108][109][110]. The use of qualitative methods has been particularly discussed as a preliminary basis for preparation of clinical trials [25,28,29,79,97,101].…”

Section: Quantitative Research Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Key Issues in Clinical and Epidemiological Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine – a Systematic Literature Review

Fischer

Junne²,

Witt

et al. 2012

Complement Med Res

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Background: In the last 2 decades there has been a large increase in publications on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). However, CAM research methodology was heterogeneous and often of low quality. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate scientific publications with regards to general issues, concepts and strategies. We also looked at research priorities and methods employed to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological research of CAM in the past to identify the basis for consensus-based research strategies. Methods: We performed a systematic literature search for papers published between 1990 and 2010 in 7 electronic databases (Medline, Web of Science, PsychArticles, PsycInfo, CINAHL, EMBASE and Cochrane Library) on December 16 and 17, 2010. In addition, experts were asked to nominate relevant papers. Inclusion criteria were publications dealing with research methodology, priorities or complexities in the scientific evaluation of CAM. All references were assessed in a multistage process to identify relevant papers. Results: From the 3,279 references derived from the search and 98 references contributed by CAM experts, 170 papers fulfilled the criteria and were included in the analysis. The following key issues were identified: difficulties in past CAM research (e.g., randomisation, blinding), utility of quantitative and qualitative research methods in CAM, priority setting in CAM research and specific issues regarding various CAM modalities. Conclusions: Most authors vote for the use of commonly accepted research methods to evaluate CAM. There was broad consensus that a mixed methods approach is the most suitable for gathering conclusive knowledge about CAM.

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“…9 Certain study designs are more appropriate for certain interventions and populations, 84 and contention is emerging about how complementary medicine should be evaluated. [85][86][87][88][89][90] The complexity of interventions such as meditative movement, including practitioner and non-specific effects, the influence of patient choice, and potential synergistic effects, require innovative evaluative approaches.…”

Section: Research Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meditative Movement for Respiratory Function: A Systematic Review

et al. 2013

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BACKGROUND:Meditative movement, such as tai chi, yoga, and qi gong, may benefit people with cystic fibrosis (CF), as a form of gentle exercise incorporating meditation, breathing, and relaxation. Respiratory function is the most common issue in CF. In this systematic review we synthesized the evidence on the effect of meditative movement on respiratory function in patients with CF. METHODS: We searched Chinese and English language databases with terms relating to tai chi/yoga/qi gong, and respiratory function/cough/dyspnea. Articles were screened and selected by 2 researchers. We included controlled studies published in English or Chinese after 1980, and extracted data using a specially designed spreadsheet. Two researchers independently evaluated study quality and reporting, using 3 standardized checklists. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneous methods. RESULTS: We found 1,649 papers, included 43 (30 in English, 13 in Chinese), 23 of which were randomized controlled trials, and 20 were non-randomized trials. No studies were concerned with CF. Eleven studies included patients with respiratory disorders, and 27 included healthy people. Very few studies were high quality. The main problems with the randomized controlled trials was the randomization and non-random and/or poorly reported sampling. The main problems with the non-randomized studies were poor reporting of samples and non-equivalent groups. Although no clinically important changes were found, meditative movement may improve FEV 1 in healthy people, compared to no treatment/exercise (the intervention groups showed effect-size changes from 0.07 to 0.83), but meditative movement did not appear to affect FEV 1 /FVC in subjects with COPD. Key study limitations were: poor reporting of sampling or methods; inadequate sample size; non-randomized design; inadequate description of randomization; randomization by center; no blinding; lack of reporting of important aspects of meditative movement; and short-term follow-up.

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Testing complementary and alternative therapies within a research protocol

Cited by 41 publications

References 30 publications

Complementary, Alternative, Integrative, or Unconventional Medicine?

Complementary, Alternative, Integrative, or Unconventional Medicine?

Key Issues in Clinical and Epidemiological Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine – a Systematic Literature Review

Meditative Movement for Respiratory Function: A Systematic Review

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