France Lert1, Lamiae Grimaldi-Bensouda2, Frederic Rouillon3, Jacques Massol4, Didier Guillemot5, Bernard Avouac6, Gerard Duru7, Anne-Marie Magnier8, Michel Rossignol9, Lucien Abenhaim10, Bernard Begaud11. 1. INSERM U1018, Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Villejuif, France. Electronic address: france.lert@inserm.fr. 2. Pharmacoepidemiology and Infectious Diseases Research Group, Pasteur Institute and LA-SER, Paris, France. Electronic address: Lamiae.grimaldi@la-ser.com. 3. Sainte-Anne Hospital, University of Paris V René Descartes, Paris, France. Electronic address: F.ROUILLON@ch-sainte-anne.fr. 4. Faculty of Medicine, University of Franche Comté, Besançon, France. Electronic address: Jacques.Massol@univ-fcomte.fr. 5. Institut Pasteur and University of Paris-Ile de France Ouest, Paris, France. Electronic address: Didier.Guillemot@Pasteur.fr. 6. LA-SER, Paris, France. Electronic address: Bernard.Avouac@la-ser.com. 7. Cyklad Group, Rillieux la Pape, France. Electronic address: Gerard.Duru@gmail.com. 8. Faculty of Medicine, University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France. Electronic address: AMMagnier@nerim.fr. 9. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University and LA-SER Centre for Risk Research, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: michel.rossignol@crr-intl.com. 10. Department of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and LA-SER, London, UK. Electronic address: lucien.abenhaim@gmail.com. 11. INSERM U657, University of Bordeaux Segalen, Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: Bernard.Begaud@pharmaco.u-bordeaux2.fr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Homeopathic care has not been well documented in terms of its impact on patients' utilization of drugs or other complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). The objective of this study was to describe and compare patients who visit physicians in general practice (GPs) who prescribe only conventional medicines (GP-CM), regularly prescribe homeopathy within a mixed practice (GP-Mx), or are certified homeopathic GPs (GP-Ho). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The EPI3-LASER study was a nationwide observational survey of a representative sample of GPs and their patients from across France. Physicians recorded their diagnoses and prescriptions on participating patients who completed a self-questionnaire on socio-demographics, lifestyle, quality of life Short Form 12 (SF-12) and the complementary and alternative medicine beliefs inventory (CAMBI). RESULTS: A total of 6379 patients (participation rate 73.1%) recruited from 804 GP practices participated in this survey. Patients attending a GP-Ho were slightly more often female with higher education than in the GP-CM group and had markedly healthier lifestyle. They did not differ greatly in their comorbidities or quality of life but exhibited large differences in their beliefs in holistic medicine and natural treatments, and in their attitude toward participating to their own care. Similar but less striking observations were made in patients of the GP-Mx group. CONCLUSION: Patients seeking care with a homeopathic GP did not differ greatly in their socio-demographic characteristics but more so by their healthier lifestyle and positive attitude toward CAM. Further research is needed to explore the directionality of those associations and to assess the potential economic benefits of homeopathic management in primary care.
BACKGROUND: Homeopathic care has not been well documented in terms of its impact on patients' utilization of drugs or other complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). The objective of this study was to describe and compare patients who visit physicians in general practice (GPs) who prescribe only conventional medicines (GP-CM), regularly prescribe homeopathy within a mixed practice (GP-Mx), or are certified homeopathic GPs (GP-Ho). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The EPI3-LASER study was a nationwide observational survey of a representative sample of GPs and their patients from across France. Physicians recorded their diagnoses and prescriptions on participating patients who completed a self-questionnaire on socio-demographics, lifestyle, quality of life Short Form 12 (SF-12) and the complementary and alternative medicine beliefs inventory (CAMBI). RESULTS: A total of 6379 patients (participation rate 73.1%) recruited from 804 GP practices participated in this survey. Patients attending a GP-Ho were slightly more often female with higher education than in the GP-CM group and had markedly healthier lifestyle. They did not differ greatly in their comorbidities or quality of life but exhibited large differences in their beliefs in holistic medicine and natural treatments, and in their attitude toward participating to their own care. Similar but less striking observations were made in patients of the GP-Mx group. CONCLUSION:Patients seeking care with a homeopathic GP did not differ greatly in their socio-demographic characteristics but more so by their healthier lifestyle and positive attitude toward CAM. Further research is needed to explore the directionality of those associations and to assess the potential economic benefits of homeopathic management in primary care.
Authors: Alex J Walker; Richard Croker; Seb Bacon; Edzard Ernst; Helen J Curtis; Ben Goldacre Journal: J R Soc Med Date: 2018-04-18 Impact factor: 5.344