[Omeo33] Art 1210 - Homeopathy, 2011, 100 (3), 122-130

[Gino Santini]

The feasibility of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial to compare  
usual care with usual care plus individualised homeopathy, in children  
requiring secondary care for asthma
E.A. Thompson, A. Shaw, J. Nichol, S. Hollinghurst, A.J. Henderson, T.  
Thompson and D. Sharp

Objective - To test the feasibility of a pragmatic trial design with  
economic evaluation and nested qualitative study, comparing usual care  
(UC) with UC plus individualised homeopathy, in children requiring  
secondary care for asthma. This included recruitment and retention,  
acceptability of outcome measures patients’ and health professionals’  
views and experiences and a power calculation for a definitive trial.
Methods - In a pragmatic parallel group randomised controlled trial  
(RCT) design, children on step 2 or above of the British Thoracic  
Society Asthma Guidelines (BTG) were randomly allocated to UC or UC  
plus a five visit package of homeopathic care (HC). Outcome measures  
included the Juniper Asthma Control Questionnaire, Quality of Life  
Questionnaire and a resource use questionnaire. Qualitative interviews  
were used to gain families’ and health professionals’ views and  
experiences.
Results - 226 children were identified from hospital clinics and  
related patient databases. 67 showed an interest in participating, 39  
children were randomised, 18 to HC and 21 to UC. Evidence in favour of  
adjunctive homeopathic treatment was lacking. Economic evaluation  
suggests that the cost of additional consultations was not offset by  
the reduced cost of homeopathic remedies and the lower use of primary  
care by children in the homeopathic group. Qualitative data gave  
insights into the differing perspectives of families and health care  
professionals within the research process.
Conclusions - A future study using this design is not feasible,  
further investigation of a potential role for homeopathy in asthma  
management might be better conducted in primary care with children  
with less severe asthma.

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