The treatment of children with anthroposophic medicine in daily primary care—Results of a network study

Background

The treatment of children is a core domain of anthroposophic medicine (AM) since its beginnings almost 80 years ago. However, a systematic analysis of AM-therapies in paediatric primary care is still missing. This study aims to investigate this field of AM.

Methods

A total of 38 primary care physicians in Germany participated in this prospective, multicentre observational study. Prescriptions, diagnoses, and non-pharmacological therapies were reported for each consecutive patient. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with anthroposophic prescriptions.

Results

During the 1-year study period (year 2005), a total of 107,903 prescriptions for 18,440 children under 12 years (48.1% female) were included. The most frequent single diagnoses were acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) (22.7%), bronchitis (9.0%), and otitis media (6.6%). Anthroposophic medication accounted for 41.8% of all drugs prescribed and decreased with patient age (47.3% under 2 years, 41.1% 2–6 years, and 37.4% 6–11 years; p for trend <0.001). The Odds Ratio (OR) for receiving an anthroposophic remedy was significantly greater than 1 for the first consultation (OR=1.19; CI: 1.16–1.23), for disorders of conjunctiva (OR=2.47; CI: 2.27–2.70), otitis media (OR=1.50; CI: 1.43–1.59), URTI (OR=1.28; CI: 1.23–1.33), other diseases of the respiratory system (OR=1.15; CI: 1.07–1.24), symptoms involving the digestive system and abdomen (OR=1.39; CI: 1.28–1.51), and general symptoms and signs (OR=1.25; CI: 1.16–1.36). The chance for a prescription of an anthroposophic remedy decreased with patient age (OR=0.96; CI: 0.95–0.96), treatment by a paediatrician (OR=0.43; CI: 0.42–0.44), chronic lower respiratory diseases (OR=0.87; CI: 0.82–0.92), and noninfective enteritis and colitis (OR=0.82; CI: 0.75–0.89). Of the 2475 therapeutic procedures prescribed (26.7% anthroposophic), the most frequent were physiotherapy, speech therapy, logopaedics, and breathing therapy.

Conclusion

This study is the first to provide a systematic overview of everyday anthroposophic practice for children in primary care. We found that AM in terms of an integrative medicine combines conventional and anthroposophical concepts. More detailed studies on indications and drug classes should be conducted in the future to complement and specify these findings.

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