Anthroposophic medicine in paediatric oncology in Germany: Results of a population-based retrospective parental survey

Introduction

Anthroposophic medicine (AM) as a CAM treatment is used frequently in German-speaking countries. Based on a retrospective parental questionnaire, this study presents results of a comparison between AM-users and users of other complementary and alternative medical treatment methods (CAM) in paediatric oncology in Germany. The differences between these two groups are investigated with respect to CAM-use behaviour, surrounding circumstances and previous experience of CAM.

Results

Of the 367 CAM-users 98 (27%) patients employed anthroposophic treatments or therapies. Treatment duration amounted to a median 619 days for AM and 225 days for other CAM treatments. All parents with previous experience of AM also used AM for treatment of their child's cancer disease. AM-users had a higher social status. Physicians of AM-users played a more relevant role both in procuring information (24% vs. 11%) and in prescribing medicines and therapies (73.5% vs. 34.9%). AM-users communicate more frequently with their physicians about the use of CAM treatments (89.8% vs. 63.9%) and recommend AM more often than other CAM-users recommend other CAM therapies (95.9% vs. 87%).

Conclusions

AM plays a major role in paediatric oncology in Germany. Patients using anthroposophic medicine sustain treatment and therapies considerably longer than patients using other CAM treatments. Furthermore, all families who had used AM before their child was diagnosed with cancer also used AM for the treatment of their child's cancer disease. Therefore, compared to other CAM treatments, patient satisfaction with AM appears to be high for long-term treatment.

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