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Fetz K, Längler A, Schwermer M, Carvalho-Hilje C, Vagedes J, Zuzak TJ, Ostermann T. Comparative analysis of resource utilization in integrative anthroposophic and all German pediatric inpatient departments. BMC Health Serv Res 2020; 20:939. [PMID: 33046108 PMCID: PMC7552368 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-020-05782-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Integrative Medicine (IM) combines conventional and complementary therapies. It aims to address biological, psychological, social, spiritual and environmental aspects of patients' health. During the past 20 years, the use and request of IM in children and adults has grown. Anthroposophic Medicine (AM) is an IM approach frequently used in children in Germany. From both public health and health economic perspectives, it is relevant to investigate whether there are differences in the resource utilization between integrative pediatric departments (IPD) and the entirety of all pediatric departments. METHODS Standard ward documentation data from all German integrative anthroposophic pediatric departments (2005-2016; N = 29,956) is investigated and systematically compared to data of the entirety of all pediatric departments in Germany derived from the Institute for the Hospital Reimbursement System (2005-2016, N = 8,645,173). The analyses focus on: length of stay, Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG), Major Diagnosis Categories (MDC), and effective Case Mix Index (CMI). RESULTS The length of stay in the IPD (M = 5.38 ± 7.31) was significantly shorter than the DRG defined length of stay (M = 5.8 ± 4.71; p < .001; d = - 0.07) and did not exceed or undercut the DRG covered length of stay. Compared to the entirety of all pediatric departments (M = 4.74 ± 6.23) the length of stay was significantly longer in the in the IPD (p <. 001; d = 0.12). The effective CMI in IPD and all pediatric departments were identical (M = 0.76). The frequencies of DRG and MDC differed between IPD and all pediatric departments, with higher frequencies of DRGs and MDCs associated with chronic and severe illnesses in the IPD. CONCLUSIONS Treatment within integrative anthroposophic pediatric departments fits well in terms of the DRG defined conditions concerning length of stay, even though integrative pediatric patients has an increased length of stay of averagely 1 day, which is most likely associated to time consuming, complex integrative treatment approaches and to a certain extend to higher amount of chronic and severe diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Fetz
- Department of Psychology, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448, Witten, Germany.
| | - Alfred Längler
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany.,Professorship for Integrative Pediatrics, Institute for Integrative Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448, Witten, Germany
| | - Melanie Schwermer
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany
| | - Clara Carvalho-Hilje
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany.,Professorship for Integrative Pediatrics, Institute for Integrative Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448, Witten, Germany
| | - Jan Vagedes
- ARCIM Academic Research in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Filderstadt, Germany.,Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Calwerstraße 7, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Tycho Jan Zuzak
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany.,Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr.55, 45147, Essen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ostermann
- Department of Psychology, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448, Witten, Germany
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Complementary, alternative, integrative and dietary therapies for children with Crohn's disease - A systematic review. Complement Ther Med 2020; 52:102493. [PMID: 32951742 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Children with diagnosed inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease are faced with the daunting prospect of living with a chronic disease. Besides psychological stress, children are suffering from therapy side-effects; in particular, corticosteroid therapies are problematic in the growth phase. This highlights that there is a need for less aggressive alternative therapies for children as well as adolescents living with such chronic conditions. Elemental diets are widely used and accepted therapy options. Several pediatric Crohn's disease patients also use complementary, alternative and integrative therapies to reduce or avoid drug therapies. To survey such therapy options and their efficiency and safety, we performed a systematic literature search and screened databases (Cochrane Library, EMBASE, OvidSP, PubMed, CAMbase, CAM-QUEST, Anthromedics) from their inception to December 2019. In total, seven of 1439 studies fulfilled search criteria. Six RCTs and one retrospective controlled trial investigating elemental diets (Flexical, Elemental 028), semi-elemental diets (Pregomin), polymeric diets (Modulen IBD), whole protein based formulas, and ω-3 fatty acid supplementation were found. Data indicated that diet therapies were equal to or more effective than corticosteroid therapies when used to treat Crohn's disease. Regrettably, we could not identify controlled studies investigating complementary, alternative and integrative medicine approaches. Our review provides an updated overview of controlled studies investigating dietary therapies used in the treatment of pediatric Crohn's disease, and demonstrates that the current study situation does not reflect the actual use of complementary, alternative and integrative therapies. Therefore, clinical trials are necessary to estimate risks and benefits of such therapies. The review indicated that enteral diets and ω-3 fatty acid supplementation may be an effective alternative to corticosteroid treatments for children with Chron's disease.
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Fetz K, Ostermann T, Schwermer M, Appelbaum S, Vagedes J, Zuzak TJ, Längler A. Do patients of integrative anthroposophic pediatric inpatient departments differ? Comparative analysis to all pediatric inpatients in Germany considering demographic and clinical characteristics. BMC Public Health 2019; 19:1623. [PMID: 31795983 PMCID: PMC6889203 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-7972-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Integrative medicine (IM) is a patient-centered, evidence-based, therapeutic paradigm which combines conventional and complementary approaches. The use of IM in pediatrics has increased in the past two decades and parents' demand for it is growing. An IM whole systems approach is anthroposophic medicine. Considering the growing demand for integrative approaches in children, it is relevant from a public health perspective to find out which kind of children use IM in Germany and whether they differ from the entirety of pediatric inpatients in Germany. Moreover, it would be interesting to known, whether these patients are willing to travel a longer distance to gain integrative treatment. METHODS The present study investigates the standard ward documentation datasets of 29,956 patients of all German integrative anthroposophic pediatric inpatient wards from 2005 to 2016 and compares them systematically to collect data of the entirety of all pediatric inpatient wards in Germany. Apart from patients' age and gender, and the ICD-10 admission diagnoses, the geographical catchment area of the hospitals were analyzed. RESULTS Sociodemographic characteristics of pediatric inpatients in the integrative anthroposophic departments (IAH) did not differ from the entirety of all pediatric inpatients. Regarding clinical characteristics, higher frequencies were found for endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (IAH: 7.24% vs. 2.98%); mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders (IAH: 9.83% vs. 3.78%) and nervous diseases (IAH: 8.82% vs. 5.16%) and lower frequencies for general pediatric diseases such as respiratory diseases (IAH: 17.06% vs. 19.83%), digestive diseases (IAH: 3.90% vs. 6.25%), and infectious and parasitic diseases (IAH: 12.88% vs. 14.82%) in comparison to the entirety of all pediatric inpatients in Germany. The IAH showed a broad catchment area, with most patients being from former, Western federal republic of Germany. Large catchment areas (> 100 km) for the IAH are merely covered by severe and chronic diseases. CONCLUSION Pediatric inpatients of IAH do not differ from the entirety of pediatric inpatients in Germany regarding sociodemographic characteristics but show differences regarding clinical characteristics. Parents are willing to travel further distance to get specialized integrative anthroposophic medical care for children with severe and chronic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Fetz
- Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448 Witten, Germany
| | - Thomas Ostermann
- Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448 Witten, Germany
| | - Melanie Schwermer
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313 Herdecke, Germany
| | - Sebastian Appelbaum
- Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448 Witten, Germany
| | - Jan Vagedes
- ARCIM Institute Academic Research in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Filderstadt, Germany
- Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Calwerstraße 7, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Tycho Jan Zuzak
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313 Herdecke, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr.55, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Alfred Längler
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313 Herdecke, Germany
- Professorship for Integrative Pediatrics, Institute for Integrative Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448 Witten, Germany
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