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Schwermer M, Fetz K, Ostermann T, Truxius L, Längler A, Jan Zuzak T. Evaluation of a guideline for supportive anthroposophic therapies for hospitalised children with acute gastroenteritis - A prospective case series study. Complement Ther Med 2024; 82:103042. [PMID: 38636719 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2024.103042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Even though several German children's hospitals offer integrative, anthroposophic medical therapies in addition to the standard medical care, guidelines for these anthroposophic therapies are still rare. Therefore, we investigated the feasibility of implementing a published, consensus-based guideline for the treatment of children with acute gastroenteritis (aGE) with anthroposophic therapies in the community hospital Herdecke. DESIGN A prospective case series of paediatric patients (≤18 years) with an aGE admitted to the department of integrative paediatrics of the community hospital Herdecke was conducted. Demographic, clinical and therapeutic data was recorded at initial presentation and at follow-up visits. Physicians were surveyed with a questionnaire to evaluate feasibility of implementing the guideline. RESULTS Sixty-two patients (0-15 years; 22 male, 40 female) were included in the case series. All patients received some form of anthroposophic therapy. The most frequently used remedies were Geum urbanum, Nux vomica and Bolus alba comp. Treating physicians showed a high adherence to the expert-based consensus guideline in their prescribed therapies. All physicians stated that they were familiar with the guideline and used the recommendation to inform their therapy decision. Suitability for daily use and effectiveness in treating the main symptoms of aGE were highly scored by the physicians. CONCLUSION The consensus-based guideline of anthroposophic therapies for aGE in children was successfully implemented and found to be useful for physicians in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Schwermer
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Germany; Professorship for Integrative Pediatrics, Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Health, Germany.
| | - Katharina Fetz
- Department of Psychology, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany
| | - Thomas Ostermann
- Department of Psychology, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany
| | - Louisa Truxius
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Germany
| | - Alfred Längler
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Germany; Professorship for Integrative Pediatrics, Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Health, Germany
| | - Tycho Jan Zuzak
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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Wopker PM, Schwermer M, Sommer S, Längler A, Fetz K, Ostermann T, Zuzak TJ. Expert consensus-based clinical recommendation for an integrative anthroposophic treatment of acute bronchitis in children: A Delphi survey. Complement Ther Med 2021; 60:102736. [PMID: 34058369 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Acute bronchitis is one of the most common pediatric diseases. In addition to conventional therapies, a frequent use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been stated. Anthroposophic medicine (AM) is one of the most practiced complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) approaches in Central Europe but hitherto no consensus-based clinical recommendations or guidelines are available. Therefore, a consensus-based recommendation leading to an informed and reasonable use of AM in the treatment of acute bronchitis in pediatrics was developed. METHODS A total of 61 physicians in Germany with expertise in the field of anthroposophic pediatrics was invited to complete an online multistep Delphi process. Two independent reviewers quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated the results. The survey was completed when >75 % consensus was achieved. RESULTS The clinical recommendation comprises 15 subitems related to treatment as well as clinical and psychosocial aspects. All items reached strong consensus (>90 %; N = 9) or consensus (75-90 %; N = 6). CONCLUSION The comprehensive clinical recommendation creates a scientific base for the anthroposophic integrative treatment of acute bronchitis in children in Germany. It will make the anthroposophic approach more applicable, understandable and comparable to a wider public of physicians and other health professionals in Germany.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pilar Marie Wopker
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany; Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Health, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455, Witten, Germany
| | - Melanie Schwermer
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany; Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Health, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455, Witten, Germany.
| | - Simon Sommer
- Department of Pediatrics, Vestische Kinder- und Jugendklinik Datteln, Dr.-Friedrich-Steiner-Straße 5, 45711, Datteln, Germany
| | - Alfred Längler
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany; Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Health, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455, Witten, Germany
| | - Katharina Fetz
- Department of Psychology, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455, Witten, Germany
| | - Thomas Ostermann
- Department of Psychology, Chair of Research Methodology and Statistics in Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455, Witten, Germany
| | - Tycho Jan Zuzak
- Department of Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313, Herdecke, Germany; Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstr.55, 45147, Essen, Germany
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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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