Efficacy of a Combined Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis - Results of a Retrospective Questionnaire Study

Author(s): Linsenmann, E., Reisenegger, I.

Abstract: Objective: We evaluated the long-term efficacy of a combined treatment of atopicdermatitis (AD), conducted in a hospital setting over 4-6 weeks.Design: Retrospective questionnaire study.Patients: Ouestionnaires were sent to all 1,098 AD patients who underwent the abovementioned treatment regime in the hospital from April 1988 to February 1992.Outcome Measures: Subjective reports on the improvement of symptoms.Results: The treatment comprised classical homeopathy, fasting, whole-food diet, and psychosocial care, together with radical termination of any allopathic treatment, including ointments.703 patients (65,6%) responded, 689 (511 adults, 178 parents of children) provided valid data. 87,6% of the patients were treated once; the mean treatment duration was 6,7 weeks. 12% of the AD patients reported aggravation of their illness, 9% could find no differences; nearly 80% were better, more than one third of the patients were much better. This was reflected by a relatively low level of rating for present AD-symptoms, and a higher level of general satisfaction with oneself, the partner and the job. We asked about different therapies used before and after the treatment. There was a dramatic, highly significant reduction in the use of ointments, steroids, antihistaminics and bath supplements, and an increase in the use of dietary measures, homeopathy, relaxation techniques and psychotherapy (noncorrected p < 0,001 for all tests with the Wilcoxon test). 'Me overall treatment effect was independent of other variables like age, sex, time since treatment, duration and number of treatments in the clinic.Discussion: It should be borne in mind that we relied solely on the subjective reports of our patients and could - for organizational reasons - not include objective data; therefore we cannot exclude the possibility of data bias due to selective responses of patients who returned the questionnaire. Taking into account, that there are no data at all available about this type of treatment up to now, our data give valuable information about the long-term effects experienced by AD patients.Conclusion: The data seem to suggest that this type of combined treatment can be quite effective for AD, even on the long term; they warrant closer scrutiny of this treatment, possibly by controlled trials.

Keyword(s): Atopische Dermatitis

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