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. 2014 Jan 1;3(1):54–70. doi: 10.7453/gahmj.2013.010

Table 2.

Overview of Main Results From the Anthroposophic Medicine Outcomes Study Publications

Diagnosis Therapy N enrolled Recruitment Age, y Primary follow-up assessment Last follow-up Reference no.
Month Evaluable patients Outcome measurea, improvement from baseline (95% confidence interval), P value Mo
All AM 898 Jul 1998-Mar2001 1-75 6 92% Symptom Score: median 2.67 (2.50-2.83), P<.001 24 25
Disease Score: median 3.50 (3.00-3.50), P<.001 25
All AM 1510 Jan 1999-Dec 2005 1-75 48 61%b Symptom Score: mean 2.83 (2.71-2.96), P<.001 48 26
All AM 435 Jan 1999- Dec 2005 1-16 6 88% Symptom Score: mean 2.41 (2.16-2.66), P<.001 24 27
Disease Score: mean 3.00 (2.76-3.24), P<.001 27
Anxiety disorders AM 64 Jan 1999- Dec 2005 17-75 6 78% Anxiety Severity, patient rating: mean 3.50 (2.88-4.12), P<.001 24 28
Anxiety Severity, physician rating: mean 3.60 (2.97-4.22), P<.001 28
Asthma AM 90 Jan 1999- Dec 2005 2-70 12 74% Average Asthma Severity: mean 2.61 (1.90-3.32), P<.001 24 29
ADHD symptoms AM 61 Apr 2001- Dec 2005 3-16 6 77%a FBB-HKS total score (range 0-3): mean 0.30 (0.18-0.43), P<.001 24 30
Depression AM 97 Jul 1998-Mar 2001 17-70 12 85% Center for Epidemiological StudiesDepression Scale (range 0-60)77: median 15.5 (12.5–18.5), P<.001 48 31
Migraine AM 45 Jan 1999-Dec 2005 17-75 6 76%a Average Migraine Severity, patient rating: mean 2.84 (2.05-3.64), P<.001 24 33
Average Migraine Severity, physician rating: mean 3.14 (2.40-3.87), P<.001 33
Low back pain AM vs conventional 38 + 48 Jul 1998-Sep 2000 17-75 12 89% + 58% More improvement in AM group for SF-36 Mental Health (P = .045), SF-36 General Health (P = .006), SF-36 Vitality (P = .005). No significant differences for improvements (AM vs conventional) in HFAQ, LBPRS, and other SF-36 scores. 12 38
Low back pain AM 75 Jan 1999-Dec 2005 17-75 24 67% HFAQ (range 0-100): mean 11.1 (5.5-16.6), P<.001 24 32
LBPRS (range 0-100): mean 8.7 (4.4-13.0), P<.001 32
All Prolonged con- sultation with AM physician 233 Jul 1998- Mar 2001 1-74 12 90% Symptom Score: median 2.97 (2.50-3.25), P<.001 48 34
Disease Score: median 4.00 (3.50-4.50), P<.001 34
All AMPs 665 Jan 1999-Dec 2005 1-75 6 85% Symptom Score: mean 2.43 (2.23-2.63), P<.001 12 41
Disease Score: mean 3.15 (2.97-3.34), P<.001 41
All Art therapy 161 Jul 1998-Mar 2001 5-71 12 88% Symptom Score: median 2.67 (2.25-3.17), P<.001 48 35
Disease Score: median 4.50 (4.00-5.00), P<.001 35
All Eurythmy 419 Jul 1998-Mar 2001 1-75 12 88% Symptom Score: median 2.50 (2.25-2.75), P < .001 48 36
Disease Score: median 4.00 (3.50-4.00), P < .001 36
All Rhythmical massage 85 Jul 1998- Mar 2001 1-75 12 85% Symptom Score: mean 2.63 (2.02-3.23), P < .001 48 37
Disease Score: mean 3.54 (2.88-4.19), P < .001 37
All AM 1069a Jan 1999- Dec 2005 17-75 6 85% Predictors of Symptom Score improvement after 6 and 12 months: baseline symptom severity + SF-36 physical function + SF-36 general health, disease duration 12 42
All AM 887 Jul 1998- Mar 2001 1-75 6 83% Disease Score without bias suppression: mean 2.97 (2.79-3.14), P < .001; Disease Score after suppression of non- respondent bias, natural recovery, adjunctive therapies, and regression to the mean: mean 1.87 (1.69-2.06), P < .001 6 45
Asthma, depression, low back pain, migraine, neck pain AM vs conventional 392 + 16167 Jul 1998- Dec 2005 17-75 3 + 6 +12 83% +79% Improvements in SF-36 scores in AMOS and comparison cohorts of similar magnitude (difference <0.50 SD) in 80.1% (414/517) of comparisons, differences ≥0.50 SD favoring AMOS and comparison cohorts, respectively, in 13.5% and 6.4%, respectively. 12 44
All AMPs 662c Jan 1999-Mar 2001 1-75 24 97%c Confirmed adverse drug reactions: 2.2% (21/949) of AMPs, 3.0% (20/662) of users, 0.3% (30/11487) of patient-months with AMP use 24 40
All AM 717d Jan 1999-Mar 2001 1-75 12 + 24 88%d Total health costs: bootstrap mean €3186 (95% confidence interval 3037-3711) in the pre-study year, €3297 (3157-3923) in the first year, €2771 (2647-3256) in the second year. In the second year, costs were reduced by €416 (264-960) from the pre-study year. 24 39
Groups 1-3e AM 487 Jan 1999-Mar 2001 17-70 12 + 24 85%a Total health costs in the Groups 1-3e averaged €7129, €4371, and €3532 in the pre-study year (P = .008); €6029, €3522, and €3353 in the first year (P = .083); and €4929, €3792, and €4031 in the second year (P = .460). In the second year, costs in Group 1 were reduced by €1808 (1110-4858) from the pre-study year. 24 43
a

Scores of clinical outcome measures are numerical rating scales (0-10) unless otherwise stated.

b

Analysis after replacement of missing values with last value carried forward, hence all patients with available baseline data (99%) were evaluable for analysis.

c

The analysis comprised patients with ≥1 of 5 follow-ups available (97%) and using AMPs, n = 662.

d

The analysis comprised patients with ≥3 of 5 follow-ups available, n = 717/811.

e

Group 1: patients treated for depression, Groups 2 and 3: patients treated for another disorder, with (Group 2) or without (Group 3) coexisting depressive symptoms.

Abbreviations: ADHD, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; AM, anthroposophic therapy (art, eurythmy, rhythmical massage, prolonged physician consultations, AMPs); AMPs, anthroposophic medicinal products; FBB-HKS: [German] Fremdbeurteilungsbogen für Hyperkinetische Störungen, a questionnaire of core ADHD symptoms; HFAQ, Hanover Functional Ability Questionnaire; LBPRS, Low Back Pain Rating Scale Pain Score; SF-36: Short Form (36) Health Survey; SRM, Standardized response mean effect size (minimal: < 0.20, small: 0.20-0.49, medium: 0.50-0.79, large: ≥0.80).