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Mapping Physicians' Experiences with Medicinal Products from Whole Medical Systems: A Descriptive Analysis of the Vademecum of Anthroposophic Medicines

BACKGROUND

Therapy in whole medical systems involves a large number of medicinal products. One source of knowledge of clinical properties of such products is the experience of therapy providers. A systematic approach to documentation, assessment, and aggregation of physicians' experiences with anthroposophic medicinal products (AMPs) has been developed: the Vademecum of Anthroposophic Medicines.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The Vademecum contains structured information on AMPs, including therapeutic rationale, indications, and therapy recommendations. The information is based on a 17-item questionnaire of physicians' therapy experiences, which is peer-reviewed by an interdisciplinary editorial board. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the Vademecum, 4th edition.

RESULTS

The Vademecum comprised 799 different AMPs, used for 1,773 indications, based on 2,543 questionnaires submitted by 274 physicians from 19 countries. The 799 AMPs comprised 52.6% of all AMPs marketed in Germany in 2015-2016. The 1,773 indications corresponded to 544 different ICD-10 three-digit codes, amounting to 29.3% (n = 544/1,854) of all three-digit codes. A total of 30.6% (n = 542/1,773) of indications were supported by ≥2 questionnaires.

CONCLUSIONS

The current Vade-mecum covers more than half of all AMPs, used for more than one fourth of all ICD-10 three-digit codes. The Vademecum approach may be relevant for medicinal products from other whole medical systems.