Anthroposophic medical therapy in chronic disease: a four-year prospective cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundThe short consultation length in primary care is a source of concern, and the wish for more consultation time is a common reason for patients to seek complementary medicine. Physicians practicing anthroposophic medicine have prolonged consultations with their patients, taking an extended history, addressing constitutional, psychosocial, and biographic aspect of patients' illness, and selecting optimal therapy. In Germany, health benefit programs have included the reimbursement of this additional physician time. The purpose of this study was to describe clinical outcomes in patients with chronic diseases treated by anthroposophic physicians after an initial prolonged consultation.MethodsIn conjunction with a health benefit program in Germany, 233 outpatients aged 1–74 years, treated by 72 anthroposophic physicians after a consultation of at least 30 min participated in a prospective cohort study. Main outcomes were disease severity (Disease and Symptom Scores, physicians' and patients' assessment on numerical rating scales 0–10) and quality of life (adults: SF-36, children aged 8–16: KINDL, children 1–7: KITA). Disease Score was documented after 0, 6 and 12 months, other outcomes after 0, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and (Symptom Score and SF-36) 48 months.ResultsMost common indications were mental disorders (17.6% of patients; primarily depression and fatigue), respiratory diseases (15.5%), and musculoskeletal diseases (11.6%). Median disease duration at baseline was 3.0 years (interquartile range 0.5–9.8 years). The consultation leading to study enrolment lasted 30–60 min in 51.5% (120/233) of patients and > 60 min in 48.5%. During the following year, patients had a median of 3.0 (interquartile range 1.0–7.0) prolonged consultations with their anthroposophic physicians, 86.1% (167/194) of patients used anthroposophic medication.All outcomes except KITA Daily Life subscale and KINDL showed significant improvement between baseline and all subsequent follow-ups. Improvements from baseline to 12 months were: Disease Score from mean (standard deviation) 5.95 (1.74) to 2.31 (2.29) (p < 0.001), Symptom Score from 5.74 (1.81) to 3.04 (2.16) (p < 0.001), SF-36 Physical Component Summary from 44.01 (10.92) to 47.99 (10.43) (p < 0.001), SF-36 Mental Component Summary from 42.34 (11.98) to 46.84 (10.47) (p < 0.001), and KITA Psychosoma subscale from 62.23 (19.76) to 76.44 (13.62) (p = 0.001). All these improvements were maintained until the last follow-up. Improvements were similar in patients not using diagnosis-related adjunctive therapies within the first six study months.ConclusionPatients treated by anthroposophic physicians after an initial prolonged consultation had long-term reduction of chronic disease symptoms and improvement of quality of life. Although the pre-post design of the present study does not allow for conclusions about comparative effectiveness, study findings suggest that physician-provided anthroposophic therapy may play a beneficial role in the long-term care of patients with chronic diseases.

Klinische Forschung zur Anthroposophischen Medizin – Update eines «Health Technology Assessment»-Berichts und Status Quo

“…In der umfangreichsten dieser Systemstudien, AMOS, wurden 1642 chronisch durchschnittlich über 6,5 Jahre erkrankte Patienten im Kontext der Routineversorgung mit AM-Kunsttherapie, Heileurythmie, rhythmischer Massage, AM-Arzneimitteln oder einer ausgiebigen AM-ärztlichen Konsultation behandelt und über 4 Jahre nachverfolgt. Die Patienten zeigten in den ersten 3-6 Monaten eine signifikante, klinisch relevante und bis zu 4 Jahre lang anhaltende Besserung in allen untersuchten Krankheitsparametern [16], sowohl diagnoseübergrei-fend als auch in den wichtigsten Diagnosegruppen (Angststörung [25], Asthma [26], ADHS [28], Depression [29], Lendenwirbel säulen(LWS)-Syndrom [30,31], Migräne [27]) bei Erwach senen [16] und Kindern [17] und auch bei allen Therapie modalitäten [20][21][22][23][24]. Gegenüber anderen Einflussfaktoren wurden die Effekte der AM-Therapie mittels einer kombinierten Suppression relevanter Bias-Faktoren (Spontanbesserung, Begleittherapien, Regression zum Mittelwert, Drop-out) abgegrenzt [18].…”

Diagnostic Profiles and Prescribing Patterns in Everyday Anthroposophic Medical Practice – a Prospective Multi-Centre Study

“…Indeed, although several studies have investigated selected diagnoses (e.g. respiratory tract infections [9,10] and chronic disorders [11][12][13][14][15][16]) in this area, a comprehensive and long-term description of anthroposophic treatments prescribed in daily practice, including acute care, is still lacking.…”

Effects of Chronic <b><i>Bryophyllum pinnatum</i></b> Administration on Wistar Rat Pregnancy

“…Since the 1970s, Anthroposophic Medicine (AM), a system of complementary medicine developed by Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman [7], has used preparations of the plant Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken in the treatment of PTL in Germany and Switzerland [8].…”