Forsch Komplementarmed. 1999 Apr; 6(2): 89-102.

[Problems of study designs with randomization, blinding and placebos]

Heusser P.

Universitat Bern, Schweiz. peter.heusser@kikom.unibe.ch

As randomised double-blind trials are not rarely demanded as a prerequisite for the scientific acceptance of complementary medicine, the author has analysed the soundness of this demand on the basis of the international literature. As a result there appeared a number of methodological, practical and ethical problems which question the theoretically deduced primal value of this study design relative to the needs of medical practice and of health insurance issues. The experimental instruments of randomisation, blinding and placebo deliberately exclude essential therapeutic factors which are integral elements of complementary medical concepts; therefore, it is suggested to supplement quantitatively and collectively oriented experimental research by non-experimental procedures, which adequately reflect the context- and practice-related individual reality.