OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES IN A NETWORK OF HOSPITALS USING COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE - PART I - METHODS AND COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS

Background: In Germany a considerable number of in-patient facilities offer complementary medicine in addition to conventional care. In this study we aimed to describe patient characteristics, diagnostics, ther apy and outcomes of four such in-patient facilities. Methods: 2835 con secutive in-patients admitted to two private hospitals with an emphasi s on complementary medical cart, one private hospital for traditional Chinese medicine, and the Department of Complementary Medicine of a pu blic district hospital participated in a prospective observational (co hort) study with 12 months follow-up. Sociodemographic characteristics , diagnoses, duration of disease, type and frequency of therapeutic in terventions, intensity of complaints, assessment of therapeutic succes s, and quality of life were documented. Results: Patients of the obser ved hospitals were mostly female (66%-80% in the four hospitals) and a high proportion was chronically ill (31%-62% with a disease history l onger than 5 years). The frequency of single diagnoses varied strongly between the four hospitals, however, chronic pain syndromes were very frequent in all. Complementary care always included a large number of different therapeutic methods whose combination varied with different diagnoses and between the hospitals. At discharge, 57%-73% of patient s rated the therapeutic success as good or very good, Follow-up rates were satisfactory only in two of the four hospitals. After 12 months 5 1%-64% of the responding patients still rated the success as good or v ery good. Conclusions: In the observed hospitals mainly chronically il l patients are treated with highly complex combinations of a large var iety of complementary therapies. A majority of patients seems to be sa tisfied by the treatment. A major methodological problem in the interp retations of patient outcomes are the partly low followup rates.