Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 1998; 3: 193
The practical implementation of a staged, multifaceted research agenda for the economic evaluation of complementary medicine at the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital (RLHH).
The relative importance of economic evaluation as an evidence base of complementary medicine was assessed via a survey conducted with purchasers (n = 481). The marginal costs of providing complementary care for patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis were calculated and parameters to which the cost-effectiveness is most sensitive were identified. The use, and changes in the use, of conventional medicines for patients’ main complaints were established retrospectively (n = 499) and prospectively (n = 70). Health-related quality of life (patient utility) of newly referred patients was assessed with the EQ-5D (EuroQol) instrument (n = 70) on a 100mm (0 = worst, 100 = best) scale.
Economic evaluation was rated ‘important’ as an evidence base, after safety and RCT data (‘very important’). Many patients on conventional medication were able to stop (29%) or reduce (32%) intake in the course of treatment. The median (quartiles) health state of newly referred patients was 70mm (50,78) in men and 60mm (36,73) in women.
Economic evaluation of CM is increasingly important. Before embarking on randomised trials, observational data on cost, effectiveness and utility should be collected. The cost-effectiveness of CM appears to be most sensitive to the duration of the consultation.
