Cost-benefit evaluation of homeopathic versus conventional therapy in respiratory diseases.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on 105 out of 233 patients suffering from chronic respiratory disease attending the Homeopathic Clinic of the Campo di Marte Hospital in Lucca (Tuscany, Italy) between October 1998 and May 2003. We assessed the cost of conventional medicinal products using Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification, specific for the pathology in question, and the general costs in the year preceding the first appointment at the Homeopathic Clinic vs. the first and second year subsequent to homeopathic treatment.

Patient compliance with homeopathic therapy.

The Homeopathic Clinic of the Campo di Marte Hospital, Lucca, Italy (the Homeopathic Reference Centre for Tuscany) registered a total of 1287 patients seen for the first time between September 1998 and 31 December 2004, of these 560 (43.5%) returned for a follow-up visit after a minimum interval of 2 months following the first consultation. In order to ascertain the reasons for patients not returning for follow-up consultations (drop-out) a telephone survey was carried out on every patient who had been seen during the period from 1 June 2002 to 31 May 2003, but had not returned for a follow-up visit.