Anthroposophic Medical Therapy for Chronic Disease
Author Information
Author(s): Hamre Harald J, Witt Claudia M, Glockmann Anja, Ziegler Renatus, Willich Stefan N, Kiene Helmut
Primary Institution: Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology
Hypothesis
Is physician-provided AM therapy after an initial prolonged AM-related consultation associated with clinically relevant improvement of symptoms?
Conclusion
Patients treated by anthroposophic physicians after an initial prolonged consultation had long-term reduction of chronic disease symptoms and improvement of quality of life.
Supporting Evidence
- Significant improvements were observed in Disease Score and Symptom Score from baseline to 12 months.
- Improvements in quality of life were measured using the SF-36 scale.
- Patients had a median of 3 prolonged consultations with their anthroposophic physicians during the first year.
Takeaway
This study shows that spending more time with a doctor can help people feel better when they have long-term health problems.
Methodology
A prospective cohort study involving 233 outpatients treated by 72 anthroposophic physicians, assessing disease severity and quality of life over four years.
Potential Biases
Selection bias may have occurred if physicians preferentially enrolled patients they expected to respond well to treatment.
Limitations
The study lacked a comparison group and was subject to potential dropout bias.
Participant Demographics
Patients aged 1–74 years, predominantly middle-aged women, with a median age of 38 years.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p < 0.001
Confidence Interval
95%-CI not including 0
Statistical Significance
p < 0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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